Jon Murray reflects on Tim Henman's fortunes at Wimbledon - and says he should feel proud of his achievements

Tim Henman has every right to feel proud of himself for another excellent fortnight's work.

Tim HenmanThe collective groan of a nation greeted his semi-final exit at the hands of Lleyton Hewitt last Friday, but the British No 1 from Oxfordshire had nothing to be ashamed of.

Despite the unbelievable pressure that goes with being Britain's only real hope - and I do include Greg Rusedski in that - of ending 70 barren years since we last had a men's champion, Tim has never let us down.

The morning after the early exits of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, the Daily Mirror told Tim on its front page - disgracefully, in my opinion - "No pressure Timbo, but choke now and we'll never forgive you", and suggested that, if he didn't win Wimbledon this year, he should be deported.

It was ignorance beyond belief, with Henman always likely to come up against Hewitt, the world's best player, in the semi-finals.

When the draw came out, everyone felt at the time that Tim had the perfect passage, with few to trouble him before his probable meeting with the all-action Australian. There was the Swede, Thomas Johansson, but, like many other big names, he bit the dust early.

As it happened, it was a bad draw. The other half was the one to be in, as baseliners David Nalbandian and Xavier Malisse were to prove by quite unexpectedly winning through to the last four.

Henman, seeded No 4, did what was expected, and played some wonderful tennis along the way in the pressure-cooker atmopshere.

Reaching four semi-finals in five years has been an outstanding feat, and it is not Tim's fault that he has come up against some great champions along the way.

It took another former champ, Boris Becker, to put Henman's performances into perspective.

"The amount of pressure he is put under to win this title is just incredible for someone who is not a grand slam winner," Becker said.

"He has never even been to a grand slam final, he's never been ranked one, two or three in the world, so he comes out here every year under circumstances we cannot imagine and delivers what he should for a player of his record.

"He wins the matches he is supposed to, he does not win the matches that are just beyond his capabilities. All he is doing is hitting his potential."

This year, the heavy, slow conditions worked greatly against him. In a summer of blazing sunshine, when the ball travels that much quicker through the air and the serve-volleyers come into their own, Tim still stands a good chance of realising his dream.

But he knows, as we all do, that he is running out of time. The new generation of hungry young players, epitomised by Hewitt - at 21, six years his junior - seem likely to be around for a long time.

Tim is aware that he needs to improve, but it is hard to see what more he can do. He has reduced his Achilles heels - his tendency to double fault and a suspect second serve - but it has come at a cost, because he has lost some bite to his first serve.

Although the stats showed Hewitt and Henman remarkably had identical fastest and average speeds on both first and second serves in Friday's semi-final, it was Hewitt who came up with the aces and unreturned first serves at the times that mattered.

And that's the way it is in sport. Just as England did after they were outplayed by Brazil in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, sometimes you just have to accept that you have been beaten by someone better.

But don't let us belittle what Henman has achieved.

Henman said: "In the next few days when I reflect on the last fortnight, I certainly know that I've given it my best shot. I couldn't have tried any harder. And that's good enough with me.

Tim had one last message for the thousands of people who have watched his matches on Henman Hill. "They've been incredible," he said.