Henman backs Felgate to take lead role at LTA

As he prepared to play his first competitive match for three-and-a-half months, Tim Henman took a broader look at the British game yesterday and urged the Lawn Tennis Association to appoint David Felgate, his former coach, as their new director of performance.

Henman had a meeting with the LTA's chief executive, John Crowther, a few days ago on the subject of a successor to Patrice Hagelauer, who has resigned to become France's Davis Cup coach. "It's a big, big job,'' Henman said, "and I was pretty clear-cut in my opinion that David Felgate is the person absolutely equipped to do the job.

"David knows the world game as well as anyone, and when we started working together he was with Billy Knight [at the LTA], and that's when the British game was at its healthiest for some time. If you look at it now, it's pretty depressing isn't it? David understands the kind of politics that go on there, and he's not scared to make decisions and piss people off if he has to. You won't get anyone more passionate and motivated to achieve.''

Felgate, Henman's coach for eight-and-a-half years from 1992, currently works for Mark McCormack's International Management Group in the United States. "Jan [Felgate's wife] was in London a couple of weeks ago and I had a meeting with her,'' Henman said. "It's a slightly tricky time with the situation regarding Mark McCormack's health. I'm not sure if there have been any negotiations, or what position David is in. He'd certainly get my nod.''

Henman, who has been coached by the American Larry Stefanki since July 2001, has not played since the Masters' Series event in Paris last October. He had surgery to his right shoulder in November and missed last month's Australian Open and the Davis Cup tie against Australia in Sydney, where Britain's patchwork team lost 4-1.

Henman is due to start his season in Rotterdam tomorrow with a match against Ivan Ljubicic, of Croatia, who played a critical role in his country's defeat of the United States in the first round of the Davis Cup.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a little bit of apprehension,'' Henman said. "But I'm so much looking forward to getting back out there. I'm pleased with the way things have improved with all the rehabilitation and the number of sets I've played, and now I'm ready to go to the next level of tournament play. If I get out there on Tuesday and start to feel sore again I'm not going to play through it. I'll take a cautious course. But I'm confident it's going to be okay.''

Henman, the runner-up here last year to Nicolas Escude, of France, was asked about the work he had done on his service action during his rehabilitation. "I've been working on all areas of my game,'' he said denying that he had remodelled his serve to protect his shoulder.

Venus Williams, the world No 2, withdrew from the Dubai Open, which starts here today, on Friday and will return to the United States from Antwerp, having won in the final there yesterday. Whether her decision was influenced by the military build-up around Iraq is a matter of conjecture. "There are many reasons,'' Salah Tahlik, the Dubai tournament director said. "One of the reasons is that Venus has decided to change her schedule and does not want to play back-to-back tournaments.''

Justine Henin-Hardenne, of Belgium, the top seed in Williams' absence, is projected to play Jennifer Capriati, the American former world No 1 in the semi-finals. Amelie Mauresmo, of France, the defending champion, is drawn to meet Monica Seles, of the United States, in the other semi-final.