THERE may be five years between them, but both Michael Owen and Tim Henman showed all the hallmarks of greatness in defeat last week.

And the half-hearted belief that Oxford star Henman will one day win Wimbledon turned overnight to total conviction for most of the 14,000 Centre Court crowd who witnessed his semi-final battle with Pete Sampras on Friday.

I have been going to Wimbledon every year since 1977 and have not seen tennis of the level reached by these two in their third set since the days of McEnroe, Borg and Connors.

For years, Sampras has been on a different plane to the rest, yet for 25 minutes, even when he was playing at the peak of his game, Henman was matching him and raising - like a poker game.

It was a set of such intensity and drama that when the American eventually snatched it and celebrated with a giant leap, spontaneous applause rang out around the court. Those present knew they had seen something special.

In many ways it mattered not that Henman fell away in the fourth set or that he couldn't live with the champion in the first.

He had proved that he has the qualities to become the best grass court player and, of course, he has time on his side.

"How far he goes in this game is down to him," his coach David Felgate said. "This is not rocket science. Tim is where he is through hard work on the practice court and in the gym, and through his talent.

"There are not too many guys who have the game to win Wimbledon, eight, maybe nine, and Tim is one of them."

Perhaps Henman's greatest asset now, rather like Owen, is the respect he suddenly has among his fellow professionals. Last week, he earned it.

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