McEnroe wants Henman to get emotional

Britain's Tim Henman was urged to rev up the passion and the emotion as he prepared to meet Mario Ancic this afternoon for a place in the Wimbledon semi-final.

According to John McEnroe, the way Henman orchestrates the vast swell of patriotic support on Centre Court could be the difference between another near-miss and making history.

Henman has received valuable support from his fervent fans on People’s Sunday and in his fourth-round match against Mark Philippoussis, but McEnroe wants him to unlock the full potential of ‘Henmania’.

“It is like having a weapon in your back pocket, then not taking it out when you are in a fight,” said McEnroe.

“He plays the game very much the way I did. One big difference between us is that he chooses to keep his feelings internal much more than I ever did.

“I think that puts him at a disadvantage at Wimbledon. Tim needs to get much more emotional. He has fantastic support and needs to use it more. Maybe, if he did that, it would be the difference between getting to the quarters or semis and actually winning the thing.”

Henman admits he has yet to get the balance right when it comes to maintaining his new calmer approach on court and trying to use the crowd to his advantage.

But his coach Paul Annacone is more concerned with Henman concentrating on reproducing the form he showed against Philippoussis, particularly in the first two sets.

Annacone, who also coached seven-time champion Pete Sampras, told the BBC: “He is not going to get a lead and just walk on the court and hit three aces in a row like Pete or Goran or Andy.

“He has a different style of game. He has to be smart like he was on Monday and very thoughtful about how he plays his service points.

“He knows what goes on and he understands the expectations and everyone’s hopes and they are his hopes too, he wants to win every time he plays.

“That is a burden of responsibility but he accepts that and I think he has done a good job with that. His Wimbledon record speaks for itself. He loves playing here and he loves the pressure.”

Ancic is a dangerous opponent who, aged 18, beat Roger Federer in the first round at Wimbledon in 2002, a victory which earned him the nickname ‘Super Mario’.

He is a close friend of fellow Croatian and 2001 champion Goran Ivanisevic, who famously beat Henman in the semi-finals that year.

“When I grew up Goran was always doing well at Wimbledon so we were always waiting for it to see if he would win this one, or the next one,” Ancic said.

“It has always been special so I am very happy I am trying to do the same.

“I think I can get some tips from Goran about how to deal with the crowd. I can’t just swing freely because it is a quarter-final but every paper you open it is about Tim so it is going to be easier for me.”