Henman focusing on task

12 April 2012

Tim Henman is determined not to let nostalgia get in the way of his US Open challenge.

Henman takes on Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the first round at Flushing Meadows on Wednesday having recently announced he will retire from tennis after Great Britain's Davis Cup clash with Croatia next month.

The former British number one, who reached the semi-finals in New York in 2004, said: "I have a lot of memories from playing in this tournament over the years and it's a shame this will be the last time I'll play here. But I'm positive I've made the right decision to retire and I'm very much looking forward to the next stage of my life after tennis."

He added: "But first it would be nice to get another win here, and I'm really looking forward to trying to make that happen."

A recurring back problem was one of the main reasons Henman decided to call it a day, but the 32-year-old is optimistic he will have no problems against Tursunov, who has beaten the Briton five times in their six meetings.

"My back seems to have recovered and it feels pretty good at the moment, which is important as I'm going to have to serve well to stand a decent chance of winning," he added on his website, www.timhenman.org.

"Dmitry can be tough to play against because he makes it difficult to get into any kind of rhythm.

"He's got a big serve and then he can hurt you with both his forehand and his backhand, so when he's playing well it's difficult to feel like you're in control of much out there.

"What I need to do is serve well and try and dictate play on my serve and then be patient when returning, so that when I get an opportunity to break, I'm ready to make the most of it."

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