Henman comes from a sporting family: his father was adept at various sports, including tennis. His grandfather and great-grandfather also competed at Wimbledon. Henman supports Oxford United Football Club and is a keen golfer.
From the age of 10 to the age of 17, he was a member of the David Lloyd Slater Squad, where he trained alongside a number of other young British tennis hopefuls.
While still at school, Henman was diagnosed with Osteochondritis, a bone disease. However, he kept playing tennis, and in 1992 won the National Junior titles in singles and doubles, deciding to join the professional tour in 1993.
He climbed up the ranks very quickly: in 1994, he was among the top 200 players in the world; by 1995, among the top 100; and by 1996, he had made it into the top 30. He was England's highest ranked player that year, and won the Most Improved Player trophy at the ATP awards. He was subsequently elected to the ATP Tour Player Council and went on to win his first championship in January, 1997. In March of that year, he underwent surgery on his elbow which kept him out of action for two months.
In 1998, the year in which he reached Wimbledon's semi-finals for the first time, he was ranked as one of the top 10 ATP players. In 1999, Henman married his long-term girlfriend, TV producer Lucy Heald.
"Tiger Tim" - as he's fondly known to British tabloids and Wimbledon diehards (many of whom assemble on Henman Hill, named for their hero) - has come tantalisingly close to reaching the final on a number of occasions, bowing out during the semi-final in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. In 2003, he was ousted during the quarter-finals.
Many British fans still believe Henman will eventually become the first Englishman in almost 70 years to win the Wimbledon title.