Tim hasn't turned his back on it all just yet

But he will outline his plans for walking off into the tennis sunset at a press conference in New York on Thursday. If it transpires that Henman will, indeed, call it a career following the Davis Cup tie against Croatia in late September, the next month will be a time for a celebration of a tennis life that has enriched all of our sporting psyches.

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Waving goodbye? Henman will outline his future plans on Thursday

We have ridden the waves of optimism with him when he has threatened to lift the Wimbledon title he so cherishes. Equally, we have suffered with him when he has fallen agonisingly short. Yet it is a ride that neither he, nor us, would have missed for the world.

Wherever Andy Murray takes us on his own journey across the tennis courts of the planet, the nervewringing ride we have travelled with Henman will never be forgotten.

Of course, it may be that Tiger Tim wants one more tilt at Wimbledon, one more opportunity to savour the unique atmosphere of Centre Court - the court he calls home - and that he may hope to persuade his aching back to give him 10 final pain-free months.

The problem is that his back condition is chronic. Over time, it can only deteriorate. Henman is also a family man nowadays. The father of two daughters, he turns 33 in a fortnight's time. He and wife Lucy have a third child on the way and, for all his protestations to the contrary to his fans on his website yesterday, his commitment to tennis may not be as absolute as it once was.

Henman said: 'Having a family has certainly changed the way I look at the world and also to a certain extent my priorities in life, but I would not go so far as to say that it has diminished my hunger for the game.

'I still really enjoy practising and training and also playing matches. It's just frustrating that my body has struggled to cope with what I've been asking it to do in the past couple of years. I'm not fully fit, so my focus at the moment is to try to get my back sorted out and to take it from there.'

The 2007 season has been nothing short of a disaster. Henman has won just five matches all year and progressed past the first round of a tournament just twice in 11 attempts. In the process his world ranking has fallen to 92 - too low to gain entry into either of this autumn's Masters Series events in Madrid and Paris - and, as it stands, only just high enough to qualify directly for January's Australian Open.

When you have achieved what Henman has in his sport - 11 titles, semi-final appearances at Wimbledon and French and U.S. Opens and ranked in the top 15 in the world for seven successive years - the thought of scrapping your way through qualifying to reach the main draw simply does not appeal.

Still, though, selecting the moment to retire is a quandary that is difficult for sportsmen to solve. Twelve months ago, Andre Agassi bade an emotional farewell to tennis at the U.S. Open, but had so many cortisone shots pumped into his ageing body in order to be able to compete that he risked his post-career health. Pete Sampras never could quite say goodbye, but sapped of the competitive urge, he finally called time a year after his final match.

For others, the moment picks itself. Ian Botham woke up one morning mid-season while at Durham, knew it was time and retired that same day.

Henman's Great Britain Davis Cup captain John Lloyd had a similar experience. Lloyd said: 'It is so difficult to know when to go. I thought about it for three months, but then it came to me suddenly after I lost at Wimbledon. I just knew that that was it and that I had played my last match.

'The last few months have been tough for Tim. I know his back has been troubling him, but in between he feels fit and yet he has struggled to win matches and can't understand why. Whatever his decision, we should respect it. He has earned the right to decide his own time to retire because of all he has given British tennis over the years.'

We await that decision with fascination.