Henman aims for improvement

Tim Henman admits his form this year has been "average" - but has now firmly set his sights on reaching the Wimbledon final.

The British number one has dropped down to eighth in the world after he has so far failed to win an ATP Tour title in 2005, and suffered an early exit from the French Open, where he had reached the semi-finals last year.

Henman, though, has always fared better on grass, and will warm up for another crack at the All England Club in next week's Stella Artois Championships at Queen's, where he has finished runner-up on three occasions.

The 30-year-old accepts some of his problems this year have been down to injury, but feels he is now getting back to the type of form which has seen him reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon four times.

"I have had some good spells where I have played some pretty good tennis, I have some strugglers in the early part of the year which were really dominated by my back, I felt pretty unhappy with the way I felt on the court," he reflected.

"It took me a while to get that sorted, and when I did, I felt my form was good.

"The clay was okay, not as good as last year, but I always felt it was going to be a tough act to follow from 12 months ago.

"I do feel, though, really good about the up-coming grass-court tournaments.

"My results have been average this year, but I do feel good about certain aspects of my game and obviously with coming onto the grass, that has been a happy hunting ground for me."

Henman added on BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek Programme: "I will never get fed up about Wimbledon because it is the pinnacle of our game.

"I have been pretty consistent over the last 10 years, but the semis has been my best.

"I have got to try and improve on that, and that is certainly the aim."