Henman denied Centre Court chance

Tim Henman has been denied a Centre Court stage to launch his latest bid for Wimbledon glory.

The Wimbledon order-of-play committee opted to put fourth seed Henman on Court One for his opening match against French qualifier Jean-Francois Bachelot today.

They have given seventh seed Roger Federer the prime setting for his first-round clash with Croatia's Mario Ancic, another qualifier.

Officials insist Henman is on a major show court, but those with Centre Court tickets will be hugely disappointed with the decision.

Henman would have preferred a Centre Court start but is still confident he can give Britain its first men's champion since Fred Perry in 1936. He said today: "If I didn't think I could win the title, I wouldn't bother turning up.

"It doesn't worry me that I'm favourite because it doesn't work out like that - think about France in the World Cup.

"This is a great time of the year for me, I have done enough practising and now I am ready to get going.

"There is so much hype surrounding this tournament but it's not a problem. I am used to it."

Former great John McEnroe believes the home crowd could help win Henman the trophy.

McEnroe, who won the last of his three Wimbledon titles in 1984, said: "The crowd can make all the difference, Tim will get plenty of backing."

Henman will be attempting to join Greg Rusedski and Barry Cowan in the second round - and Jamie Delgado should also have been in that list.

He had four match points against Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, but one of Great Britain's former Davis Cup tormentors eventually came through to win in five sets.

Delgado admitted: "I am totally gutted and came so close to getting the win." He will now help Cowan prepare to face Lapentti in the second round.

British No2 Rusedski, a 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 first-round winner against Austrian qualifier Jurgen Melzer, says he expects the courts to play a major part during the first week.

Rusedski, the 23rd seed, said: "I have never known the courts this hard. But I am not putting much pressure on myself, and that means I can go out there and just swing."