Brazilian Andre Sa, who hit a career high ranking of No. 55 in the world in August of 2022, recently recalled his quarterfinal encounter with home-country hero Tim Henman at Wimbledon for Betway.
Known for his charisma on court, Sa poured in his best career performance during the 2002 edition of Wimbledon, before running into Henman in the quarterfinals.
Stretching the encounter to four sets before succumbing to the Brit 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6 in three hours and 10 minutes, Sa hit three aces, won 69 percent of his first serve points and broke serve on two occasions.
Playing against one of the premier grass-court players of the time in Henman, Sa recalls the contest vividly.
In the video below, Sa stated that the crowd was “getting nervous when I won the second set, and when I got an early break of serve lead in the third set, they really got nervous.” This of course was a very valid reaction from the crowd as they hadn’t seen a male British champion since Fred Perry in 1936.
In the end, the home-country faithful did breathe a sigh of relief as Henman won the match, before losing to eventual winner and former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals.
The 2022 Wimbledon Championships is now underway in London, England.
Sa, much like the rest of the tennis fans and pundits around the world, will be locked into all the action from the world’s most prestigious event for the next two weeks.
