Quotes from Tim Henman

Tennis was my hobby which became my career but it never felt like a job.

Tennis has always been my hobby and I love to play but it's also not a bad way to earn your living and it might help if children knew that.

My wife has horses and we've got dogs and cats, so our family loves animals.

People will be surprised to learn that I've got a sense of humour.

For a few years after I stopped playing people would ask me how I was coping with retirement and there would often be a slightly worried tone to their voice. But I always answered the question the same way: that if I knew retirement was going to be this good I would have quit a long time ago.

The players should appreciate how lucky they are with the opportunities they've got, and they've got to get out there and maximise that. That's what success is about and unfortunately in British tennis there are too many people over the years who haven't maximised their potential.

A professional's racket is such a personal thing, and it's the tool of your trade.

I still remember playing my first Challenger tournament in Hong Kong in 1990, and the prize fund was $50,000.

The ATP is a difficult structure, it is 50% players, 50% tournaments. And so if you are the chairperson of that organization, it's very difficult to please everyone.

Players need to look at their own tours, which are run separately from the slams, and ask why they haven't improved the funds on offer.

I was always single-minded, never thinking about what was being said or written about me.

India needs better singles players to progress as a tennis nation. They need to develop, be physically fitter and stronger.

I wasn't really allowed to ski during my career because it was too risky in terms of potential injuries.

I've worked hard ever since I was that 18-year-old kid who travelled to South America and India to play small tournaments in the hope of cracking the top 200.

Playing the tennis circuit, I travelled so much for so long, that being at home is now one of my favourite things.

It's always fun catching up with the other players because so many of them were really good mates when I was playing on the main tour. The thing you miss when you give up is that camaraderie that you experienced because, for 35 weeks of the year, it really is a travelling circus.

Quarter-finals is good at a Grand Slam, but I think we want to go farther.

I've always been a very good sleeper. I can sleep any time, anywhere and never lost sleep before a big match.

I would say, hand on heart, I probably had a very good relationship with the press. The tennis journalists that followed me throughout my career... sure, you know, we had a few bumps in the road, if you like, but that's what you're paid to do.

The pressure I did feel before matches was self-inflicted. I didn't go out on court there thinking about what was being said in the papers and on TV about me.

My wife and I went on a safari break in Singita, South Africa, for our honeymoon and then we went back for our 10th anniversary, which was amazing.

I didn't play my best but I won. He was a lucky loser but I think he went out of luck today.

The Olympics had never really been on my agenda. I had been a huge sports fan growing up, But it never really occurred to me that I would have a chance to participate.

I was in the football, rugby, cricket and hockey teams at school; bit of squash. Tennis obviously.