The last of the grasscourters!

Its that time of the year when the lush green lawns of southwest London are the cynosure of the world's eyes for an entire fortnight. Grass court tennis when played at its best is a joyous spectacle. Since the days of McEnroe, it is the only surface to reward those who play the game with a bit of touch and finesse.

Boom boom Becker ushered in the era of power tennis. Those booming serves from the new graphite frame backed up by deft volleying really added a new dimension to the game. The likes of Edberg, Goran and Stitch flourished on this philosophy. None more so than arguably the greatest exponent of grass court tennis, Pete Sampras. Ofcourse, the Agassis and Couriers were the classic foil to these guys, but at the end of the day, its the serve and volley game that always came out on top.

Its a pity then that Tim Henman, the last of these rare breed of players and Britain's best player in the Open era, never won a Championship. Year after year he would make his way efficiently through the first week playing classic grass court tennis, bringing joy to many a soul on Henman hill and make the whole of Britain believe that he could go all the way. But then, almost always his tournament was ended by Sampras. Like many others in this generation, his best chance came in 2001. But that year in the semifinals, the weather Gods, Goran and his belief in destiny intervened and conspired against him. Its a shame that he was not good enough to beat Hewitt in 2002.

From then on he hasnt been a serious title contender. But watching him play today against Moya was wonderful. Even if he doesn't win, he gave a great exhibition of grass court tennis for one last time to the faithful British crowd. Over the years he has been forced to curb his natural instinct to follow his serve to the net. But today, he played like the Henman of old. Chip and charges, authoritative volleys, deft half volleys, it was all there. Wimbledon reached its low point during the 2002 final between Hewitt and Nalbandian when not a single service was backed up by a volley. Since then Roger Federer has taken over the game. Many would even argue that he is a great grass court player. Yes its true, but he is not a natural. His natural instinct is not to come in behind his serve. This is exemplified by the fact that he hardly ever does so on any other surface but grass. Ofcourse, he is so gifted that he doesn't need to except from time to time on Center court when he is bored of the monotony of baseline tennis.

The women's game has long been a slugfest from the back of the court, despite Mauresmo and Juju's efforts to come to the net in last year's final. And given that this is likely to be Henman's farewell Wimbledon, this may well be the last time we get to savour the lost art of serve and volley tennis that has become synonymous with this surface.