Scene is set for Britain to give Henman a perfect send-off

Chelsea had, it turned out, just appointed a new manager to replace Jose Mourinho, so Henman will have to look elsewhere for employment after his valedictory appearance in Britain's Davis Cup tie against Croatia which begins today at Wimbledon.

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Packing up: Henman on court

One can only hope that, come Monday, the British team are not in a similar state of despair to Mourinho when they encountered him at a London hotel three nights ago.

Henman and his colleagues are staying in the same place that Chelsea use as their base for home matches and after a team outing to Tuesday's Champions League game against Rosenborg returned to the lobby to find Mourinho and his management team sitting around in stunned silence after a surprise 1-1 draw.

Not wanting to intrude on private grief, the Davis Cup group shuffled off to bed to prepare for a somewhat different sporting farewell in south-west London.

Mourinho will walk away with a huge pay-off but is unlikely to have any part of Stamford Bridge named after him, not for now at least.

Henman will get sincere thanks for keeping British tennis afloat all these years and there are moves afoot to dedicate formally the grass hill in front of the giant TV screen, not in operation this weekend, to the 33-year-old from Oxford.

On most of the occasions that Henman's fans have thronged the grassy knoll his matches have been on Centre Court but for this last time Henman will be on his less preferred Court One.

He opened the court at The Championships in 1997 and his last game there will be spent trying to secure Britain's entry into next year's elite World Group.

Henman said: "I am not reflecting a great deal at the moment. I am trying to prepare for the emotions I will feel this weekend but right now nothing feels very different."

One of the reasons he has enjoyed his appearances on Court One less than Centre, aside from familiarity, is the fact that it has tended to be slower and bouncier.

That should help Croatian No 1 Ivan Ljubicic who, for one with such an outstanding serve, has a poor record on grass, despite winning the Wimbledon warm-up event in Rosmalen this summer.

Henman meets him today and if he can pull off an upset the tie should definitely go Britain's way. Otherwise, there is a chance it could all come down to the fifth rubber on Sunday which will see the British No 2 meet Marin Cilic.

The 18-year-old Croat beat Henman at the Artois Championship at Queen's this year but the "old" man is confident it would be different this time around.

Henman said: "That would be a great scenario and it's one I would relish. The way I played at Queen's was pretty ordinary but I'm sure the result will be different this time."

Although the focus will be on Henman, Britain's prospects revolve around Andy Murray, which is something we will need to get used to — assuming he maintains his commitment to the competition.

Murray reported yesterday that he has rediscovered the timing on his forehand that was not quite there at the U.S. Open following his recovery from a wrist injury.

Ljubicic employs a considerable backswing, which is one reason he does not like a slick surface such as grass, and although he is ranked nine places higher than Murray at No 12 in the world that is fairly irrelevant in these conditions.

What would be relevant is if the weather turns nasty and the match moves indoors to Roehampton as there are few better under a roof than Ljubicic.

HOW THEY LINE UP

Today

A Murray (GB) v M Cilic (Cro)

T Henman (GB) v I Ljubicic (Cro)

Tomorrow

A Murray, J Murray (GB) v

I Ljubicic, L Zovko (Cro)

Sunday

A Murray (GB) v I Ljubicic (Cro)

T Henman (GB) v M Cilic (Cro)

Today's TV — BBC2 12 noon.