Henman lives on his nerves

Wimbledon 2002: A nation suffers from hyper-tension as umpire comes to British No 1's aid

Tim Henman's quest for a Wimbledon title is still on course, but if his dream is fulfilled this time next week, the whole island will be reduced to a gibbering wreck. Henman resolutely refused to take control of his third-round match against Wayne Ferreira on Centre Court yesterday, which was only in part a reflection of the dogged resistance mounted by the mercurial South African.

"It was a tight match," said Henman. A measure of the equality could be found in an extraordinary statistic. Not until the pair had played for two hours and 10 minutes did one of them win a game to love. In the end the British No 1 won 7-6 3-6 7-6 6-1 in just under three-and-a-half hours, but Ferreira had a right to feel aggrieved by the manner of his defeat when the umpire, Jorge Dias, overruled both baseline and sideline judges on the sixth point of the third-set tie-break.

"I think it's shocking," said Ferreira. "If he has any decency, the umpire will come and apologise. I think it was a total intimidation thing by Tim. But I don't blame Tim for that, I would have done the same."

Henman gestured the ball was out and looked imploringly at the umpire. Instead of being 5-1 down in the tie-break, Henman saw the glimmer of a recovery at 4-2 and, in a match of patchy quality but sustained tension, that was all the daylight he needed. Henman now meets Michel Kratochvil, a 22-year-old Swiss right-hander who is ranked No 45 and playing his second Wimbledon. Henman beat him on their one meeting and, with Rainer Schüttler, the No 17 seed, another faller at the end of an eccentric week, Henman can anticipate a seedless path to at least the semi-final.

Henman had a right to be wary of Ferreira, not just because their one grand slam meeting had ended in a straight-sets victory for the South African at the US Open five years ago. Ferreira, an old campaigner searching to surpass Stefan Edberg's record of 54 consecutive grand slam appearances, was just the sort to relish a downing of Britain's finest on Centre Court, particularly as the majority of London's South African quarter had found their way to Wimbledon for the afternoon. This was Ferreira's 47th successive grand slam in a career notable more for longevity than achievement.

A Queen's champion, albeit 10 years ago, has to be accorded proper respect, but, at times, during a slow-burning opening, Henman seemed to be anticipating a long afternoon when a couple of calculated explosions might have decided matters then and there. Ferreira has a notoriously brittle temperament and once Henman had broken as early as the fourth game of the match, you expected the No 4 seed to push home his advantage. Instead, in a worrying replica of his second-round wobble against Scott Draper, he was inexorably drawn into a struggle which, at times, took on the quality of a long visit to the dentist's chair.

From 5-2 in the first set, Henman dropped four out of the next five games. He still had a set point, serving at 5-4, after 34 minutes. But it was not until the clock had swung past the hour and Ferreira had netted a relatively straightforward forehand volley on set point in the tie-break that Henman finally clinched the first set 8-6 on his fifth set point.

For long periods, no part of Henman's game seemed to be working entirely to order. Attacking the South African's vulnerable backhand side proved a notable success for much of the first set until Ferreira suddenly found his range on some raking service returns. The more Henman persisted with the tactic, the more Ferreira prospered. But Henman was exerting his own pressure on the second serve, chipping and charging at every opportunity and finally forcing Ferreira into a wild backhand to take the first set after an hour and six minutes.

That, we thought, might be a trigger for Henman to raise the tempo. Instead, having squandered two points for a break early in the second set, Henman over- hit a forehand volley to drop his own serve for the first time in the match. Another poor volley cost Henman the set and, from there on, it was Rorke's Drift, a battle of attrition. After two hours and 14 minutes, the score was 1-1, 3-3; after two hours and 45 minutes, it was 1-1, 6-6 and 6-6 in the third-set tie-break. Union Jacks flew high, then the flag of the Rainbow Nation.

"You know as well as I do how many South Africans there are in London and they came out to support their man," said Henman. But, deep into the heart of the match, Henman had to orchestrate home support so desperate was he for any sign of inspiration.

None came in the third-set tie-break. A backhand crosscourt pass and a netted volley gave Ferreira two breaks and a 4-1 lead. But when a mishit by Ferreira seemed to have landed right on the apex of baseline and sideline, throwing up a puff of dust, Henman raised his hand in a desperate appeal to the umpire. Both judges ruled the ball in, but Dias, one of the most experienced umpires on the circuit, overruled both officials to give the point to Henman.

Ferreira mounted only a minor protest, but he had every right to question whether the umpire should make a call on a line furthest from his view at such a critical point. Had the call stood, Ferreira would have led 5-1, a lead that even he would have struggled to throw away. Four points later, Henman was back level in the tie-break and when Ferreira drove a volley into the net, it heralded the collapse of Wayne's World.

"I haven't seen it on television," said Henman. "I think my gut reaction was that it was out, but I'm sure that hope had a lot to do with it. If TV says the ball was in, then Wayne's got every right to feel disappointed. By the time I'd looked at both line judges and turned to him, he'd already made his decision."

Having held serve at the start of the fourth set, Ferreira lost six games in a row. "This is Wimbledon," added Henman. "It's never easy." No one would dare to overrule that conclusion.