Jaguar Academy of Sport Ambassador Tim Henman is one of Britain's best-known tennis players from over the past decade, reaching six Grand Slam semi-finals and winning 15 career ATP titles, before retiring in 2007.
The former British Number 1 speaks exclusively to the Jaguar Academy of Sport about his first major tour experience in Japan.
Jaguar Academy of Sport Ambasador Tim Henman
TIM HENMAN EXCLUSIVE
"For me the first time I qualified for a major tour event was one of the biggest tournaments in Tokyo in 1994, I want to say around April 1994. And I remember I flew out to Tokyo on a Tuesday and flew there on my own. I was probably about 19 at the time. I arrived and got to the tournament hotel and no-one spoke English, there were no other players there and I can remember thinking to myself what am I doing here, is this really what professional tennis is all about?"
"So I didn't really have anyone to practice with in the first couple of days I was there, but obviously there was a big time change so I literally just ran around the hotel and grounds for the first couple of days just doing fitness training and it was amazing how quickly things turned around."
"I played the qualifier which started on Saturday, and by the end of the weekend I had won 3 matches and qualified for the main draw - the first time I'd been in a main draw of a tour event! In the first round, I played Kelly Jones, an American player who was at the end of his career and was in the top 30 in the world! I beat him in the 1st round. I then went on to beat Darren Kayhill in the 2nd round - he had been in the top 20 and was just coming back from injury. In the 3rd round, I had to play Pete Sampras for the first time. It was amazing, thinking the week before, 'what am I doing here?' to making one of my biggest break through in tennis."
"It was so exciting. Although I lost easily to Sampras it was amazing to play the best player in the world and see the standard, it just spurred me on to keep working hard and hopefully I could be playing in those kind of tournaments week in week out."
"I mean I must admit that when I arrived there I wasn't really enjoying it because of not knowing anyone and then obviously the momentum built and I won 5 matches at that level and suddenly I'm playing Sampras on Centre Court in front of 14,000 people! I remember my biggest paycheck before then had been about I'm guessing $5,000 and I think that week I won $25,000!"
"I'd won a lot of matches at that stage in the year because I'd been playing at some of the smaller events, I was confident and I was very eager to play in a big tournament and the Japan Open was a big event so I think all aspects of my game were working well and I felt at that moment in time I had nothing to lose and a lot to gain."
"I just think that it's those types of experiences, playing in a key tournament and being able to practice and play against the other top players that helps you develop. I was still so young at that stage, it was a real eye opener and obviously when you have a good result it's great. For me at that stage, I was probably ranked 250 in the world but you know as a lot of ranking points it suddenly moved me up into the top 200 and that obviously opened more doors - so it was a good week, a week I will always remember."
"Over the years, I've learnt that the support around you is key! The LTA were helping me at that stage and that's when I was working with David Felgate who was my coach and I started working with him just before my 18th birthday and I worked with him for 8 and a half years and went from no professional rankings to number 5 in the world. We had an amazing journey and that was another important stepping stone."
"Overall, I loved it all - I mean my whole tennis career was never my job it was always my hobby so I was always very lucky from that point of view, it was what I'd always dreamt of since I was growing up and I was able to live the dream."
"Would I have done anything differently? In hindsight yes, I would have done lots of things differently, I would have avoided the matches where I got injured and I would have probably hit some different shots at different times. You know that's the beauty of hindsight, I definitely had disappointments in my career but I had no regrets, I look back and know that I was able to give everything I had and maximise my potential and I don't think you can ask for more than that!"
Tim Henman at the Jaguar Academy of Sport Masterclass
"If I was to give anyone any advice, it would be to get yourself out there and revel in the environment and really enjoy the whole experience itself. I think it's very important to focus on the process and not the outcome. If you really concentrate on what you're doing, especially in an individual sport, and if you do as best you can, then the result will take care of itself. So I think really enjoy it and give it you're best shot!"
"I think with the Olympics coming up this year and obviously 2012 being in London, something to reiterate is that its really important that you concentrate on what you're doing! It's such a great opportunity, but you don't want to be distracted by what else is going on around you, you want to take advantage of the crowd support but you've still got to concentrate on what you're doing."
Jaguar Academy Ambassador Tim Henman with Rising Star Emma Devine and Mark Chapman
