Oxfordshire star Tim Henman is planning a fairy-tale farewell to Wimbledon.

The 33-year-old, who lives at Aston Tirrold, near Didcot, takes on world No 12 Ivan Ljubicic in the opening singles match of Great Britain's Davis Cup tie against Croatia today.

The British No 2 is to retire after the tie, but is determined to go out on a winning note at the All England club.

Andy Murray will play Marin Cilic in today's other singles match before joining brother Jamie to face Ljubicic and Lovro Zovko on Saturday.

Murray will then play Ljubicic on Sunday, while Henman faces Cilic in the match which could decide the tie.

He went down tamely to the 19-year old in this year's Artois Championships at Queen's in a match that helped underline his decision to finally call time on his career.

"It would be a great scenario to go out on Sunday at 2-2 against the man who beat me at Queen's this year - I wouldn't need any extra motivation," said Henman.

"I was very ordinary at Queen's this year, but I'm confident I can come back with a different result.

"He's a good player and getting better all of the time but I didn't take my chances that day.

"I could and probably should have won all three sets yet still lost the match and I'm determined the same won't happen again."

Cilic might be ranked 119th in the world, but the 19-year-old is viewed as one of the ATP Tour's most promising rising stars.

But Henman is buzzing with confidence as he seeks to retire by helping Great Britain secure their world group place at the expense of the 2005 Davis Cup champ- ions.

And Murray is also looking forward to giving Britain a flying start.

"I'm can't wait to get back and play in front of a big Wimbledon crowd after not getting the chance earlier in the year," he said.

"I've felt in really good shape this week and I've been hitting the ball better than I've for a while.

"The forehand is feeling great and I just want to get on with the matches now.

"It's two or three times better than it was at the US Open and hopefully I can get the right result.

"Marin is a typical Croatian - he's tall, hits the ball hard and serves well so it's up to me to make sure I return well." Meanwhile, And he insists he has no plans for what happens in his life after tennis.

"I'm not thinking too much about Monday, maybe I could pop down to Stamford Bridge and hand my CV in," he joked.

"But it's a new beginning for me and one I'm really excited about. I will always be involved in tennis, but not in the short term- that's more for the future. I'm only 33 and that's young to be retired."

9:54am Friday 21st September 2007

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