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Henman into the unknown in Paris
Tim Henman will go where no Briton has gone in the last 31 years on Tuesday when he takes on Juan Ignacio Chela in the quarter-finals.
Tim Henman will go where no Briton has gone in the last 31 years on Tuesday when he takes on Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela in the quarter-finals of the French Open.
The last cross-Channel invader to reach such heady heights on the slow, red clay-courts at Roland Garros was another serve-and-volleyer Roger Taylor who lost to eventual champion Ilie Nastase in 1973.
It's all a bit unexpected from the 29-year-old Henman who usually uses the French Open to hone his groundstrokes in preparation for the annual pilgrimage to Wimbledon.
But instead of heading home early to open his campaign on the London grass courts, Henman will be mixing it with the kings of clay, whose season reaches its climax with next Sunday's final.
Can he take it any further and perish the thought, actually win here. Henman is non-commital.
"You know, I'm playing well, but to talk of winning it is totally the wrong way to approach it," he said after his thrilling come-from-behind, five sets win over the last remaining Frenchman Michael Llodra.
"If you start thinking down the road, then you're not going to concentrate on your job.
"So who knows what's going to happen. But I do know that I need to play better on Tuesday. I need to be more committed to my style."
Style has always been the problem here though for Henman as the last serve-and-volleyer to win the title was France's Yannick Noah in 1983 when he defeated baseliner Mats Wilander in the final.
Since then such attacking greats as Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg have all tried and failed as Spaniards and South American baseliners have dominated the tournament.
Henman is not in their league and there had been question marks over his durability after he arrived in Paris suffering from a mystery virus that left him feeling low on energy.
But the way he held together both physically and mentally against Llodra to come from two sets down and win have allayed those fears for the moment.
"For 1 hour and 49 minutes, I played the wrong way. That's not a great sign, but to come through a match like that and find a way to win, I think that is kind of character building, that's for sure."
Henman will have one more incentive to reach the last four on Tuesday - to better his grandfather Henry Billington.
Billington made the last eight in the French Open back in 1939 as the drums of war beat ever louder in Europe but he lost in straight sets to Elwood Cooke 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.
