Tim Henman's OBE is a well deserved accolade for one of the greatest sportsmen not just Oxfordshire, but Britain, has ever produced - and a thoroughly nice bloke to boot, writes Jon Murray.

Tim HenmanJonny Wilkinson may be the nation's hero, but mine is the 29-year-old tennis genius who was born in Oxford, grew up in Weston-on-the-Green and now lives at Aston Tirrold, near Didcot.

On hearing the news, Henman said: "I will go to receive the honour with a massive amount of pride. I am extremely honoured."

I have been fortunate to cover almost every one of Henman's matches at Wimbledon since he played his first Grand Slam match there in 1995.

Only his loyal followers and those who have experienced the pressures he has to endure can fully understand the strength of mind needed to reach four semi-finals and three quarter-finals at Wimbledon in the past seven years.

How Henman bears the weight of expectation year after year is one of the great marvels of sport.

And in 2003 he was sensational.

Recovering from a shoulder injury which looked as though it could seriously threaten his career, he displayed amazing mental toughness in first overcoming a hostile crowd and beating El Aynaoiu in the Davis Cup in Morocco, and then winning the Masters Series title in Paris.

The tennis he played in defeating the Wimbledon and US champions Roger Federer and Andy Roddick made people in the game sit up. Suddenly, everyone was reminded just how well Henman can play.

The turning point probably came in the Davis Cup in Casablanca. Although Britain lost the tie, Henman had done his part by becoming more aggressive, and as his confidence flowed, so did the shots.

Relieved to now be injury-free, and having exchanged contracts on his new home in Oxfordshire, and with his daughter an increasing focus of his life, Henman prepared to "work harder than I have ever done".

And he concentrated on looking again at his serve, this time without coach Larry Stefanki, from whom he had parted.

"The work I did with Larry on my serve no doubt made it better technically," he said in a recent interview for Ace magazine. "But one mistake was I got a little bit too conservative. I don't think that works in this day and age.

"After I got back from the US Open I looked back on some of the videos where I was serving in '98 and '99 and I didn't really like my action and my feet.

"I had got very sideways on. It was a very simple thing of keeping the motion I had worked on and getting in a more powerful position.

"Then having a different mindset - let's go after the serve, use it as a weapon, becaue that's he way it should be."

The results were for all to see in Paris.

And with his ranking back up to 15, from a low point of 40, he'll be seeded for the Australian Open this month.

In 2003 he also won a tournament in Washington, but it was his victories over Federer, Roddick and Kuerten in the Masters Series that have made people believe again that perhaps he does have a Grand Slam title in him.

"I would have been happy to just put an end to 2003, but I suddenly believed I could end on a high note," he said.

"What I did in Paris sends out a very strong message. So few people play like me. It's a great advantage."