Of the many great matches I have been lucky enough to see at Wimbledon one that stands out is that between Tim Henman and Dutchman Paul Haarhuis in 1997.
Due to rain delays it was played on a middle Sunday, only the second one that had happened. The atmosphere was extraordinary with many of the 14,000 Centre Court crowd having camped out all night as Wimbledon enacted a 'People's Sunday'. It was not the highest quality but was what became a typical Henman cliffhanger, him saving a match point at 4-5 in the the fifth set before going on to win 14-12.
I also believe it got one of the biggest TV audiences in Wimbledon history, above 14 million. I actually believe Henman was majorly responsible for Wimbledon maintaining its profile and going on to become, without dispute, the world's biggest event as it is now, and this match was a big part of that process.
Perhaps the greatest individual performance I have seen was in the fourth round of the 1989 French Open, when Michael Chang, then 17, came back from two sets down to beat Ivan Lendl, who was the top seed and hot favourite. Chang refused to be beaten and mixed his tactics brilliantly, serving underarm on one occasion.
It was made all the more poignant by it happening just a few days after the Tianamen Square massacre in China, something that was at the front of his mind.
Mike Dickson
Memory added on March 5, 2013
Comments
No comments have yet been added to this memory.
