Henman goes back to baseline

Tim Henman is set to ditch his serve-volley game and battle from the baseline to keep alive his dream of Wimbledon glory.

The British No.1 admits he can no longer rely on classic grass-court tactics because of the slower balls and courts now being used at the All England Club.

Four-time semi-finalist Henman struggled to come up with a successful game plan in the first round when he had to recover from two sets down to scrape past world No.70 Jarkko Nieminen.

It was only in the latter stages he appeared to be getting to grips with the conditions - coming in less often behind his serve and rallying more from the baseline, like many of the leading contenders. And that looks like a tactic he will adopt from now on.

'In the first set I was coming in a lot behind my serve,' said the 30-year-old sixth seed.

'I don't think it was particularly effective. But in the fourth and fifth sets I think I serve-and-volleyed less than 20 per cent of the time - and that was when I was at my most effective.

'I served very, very well. If it came back, I was able to put him under pressure. That's something I need to keep working on.