Tim henman salutes the fans after playing his last match as a professional

Tim Henman said he couldn't have written a better script as he signed off in style at Wimbledon by sending Great Britain's Davis Cup team back into the elite World Group.

The 33-year-old, from Oxfordshire, brought the curtain down on an outstanding career by hitting the winning shot on Saturday to earn Britain an unassailable 3-0 lead in their crucial play-off against Croatia, which they went on to wrap up 4-1.

"I knew how important this match was for the team, not just me," he said.

"I've had a few good scripts over the years, but this is right up there - hitting the winner to seal the Davis Cup victory is brilliant.

"I've been involved in the Davis Cup for a long time, although there was a bit of a break, and it does not get any better than winning 3-0 in two days with a place in the World Group secured."

In his final match after 14 years as a professional, in front of another noisy and boisterous 11,400 sell-out No 1 Court crowd, Henman and Jamie Murray came back from a set down to beat Marin Cilic and Lovro Zovko 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, 7-5 to take the doubles rubber.

"I've always loved representing my country and playing at Wimbledon, and to finish my career doing both is a dream come true," Henman said.

"It's been an amazing weekend, the crowd have been fantastic and I'll cherish these memories for the rest of my life.

"Jamie was brilliant too - it's the first time we played together and I thought we combined really well. Today was an incredible atmosphere and I thought the quality of the tennis was pretty high too.

"We were aggressive and we took most of our chances and we responded well after losing the opening set.

"It's strange to think that I'm never going to be in this position again, but I'm still happy with my decision and I feel the time is right to move on.

"Our goal was to get back into the World Group and we've done that, now it's up to Andy and the rest of the team to respond to the challenge of trying to stay there in the future."

He told the unashamedly partisan crowd: "These types of occasions I'm going to miss, and to each and every one of you that has supported me throughout my career, I thank you all."

Henman goes into retirement with a Davis Cup record that leaves him in fourth place in the British all-time list of rubbers played. Only Mike Sangster, Bobby Wilson and Tony Mottram have played more, and Henman's 54 appearances in singles and doubles put him two ahead of the legendary Fred Perry.

Both Jamie Murray and Davis Cup captain John Lloyd described Henman as a wonderful role model in the sport.

Jamie hailed him as "an inspiration", saying: "It was an absolute honour to be on court with him and I'm sad to see him go.

"For me, Andy and Jamie Baker, growing up, he was our role model and inspiration. We're not at his level yet, but we'll keep working towards it."

Lloyd said: "Tim went out in the best way possible and my ambition when I became captain was always to get the team back into the World Group. He will be irreplaceable, but we must now look to the future.

"His 100 per cent commitment has rubbed off on so many people and he is a tremendous role model.

"We need the next generation to have the same commitment as Tim, but unfortunately some of our younger players don't quite yet realise what it takes."

See eight-page retirement supplement in today's Oxford Mail

9:40am Monday 24th September 2007

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