Dave Craven Column: He had us all going, didn't he, Tiger Tim?

I was expecting having to eat humble pie today after last week dissing the former British No 1 (surely one of the most meaningless titles ever).

I questioned his bottle ahead of his umpteenth Wimbledon only to see him stage a remarkable first-round victory over Carlos Moya, whipping his fans up into their usual frenzy. Perhaps I spoke a little too soon.

However, Henman reverted to the norm by falling out against Feliciano López to leave British tennis in its usual barren state and me, thankfully, putting away my knife and fork.

The only realistic chance we had of getting someone into the second week of action was for that rain to keep falling four days on the bounce, keeping our Tim stuck in the locker room.

It's not his fault any more though. Henman has blown enough opportunities in the past but, having won just two games all year, we could hardly expect the ageing campaigner to win two in a week.

Henman's chance of Wimbledon glory has gone and no doubt he'll have demons preying on his mind long into his retirement. In the end though, throughout his career, he wasn't good enough. Despite going down as a "Great" in British eyes, he will remain a great loser.

But what of the future? Will we ever produce another Wimbledon champ? Everyone talks about the Murray kid but, a decade or more from now, will we be writing the same obituary for him?

The Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Roger Draper obviously wants to shake things up to halt the slide of under-achieving. Either that or he's just penny-pinching.

His tactic is to hit Britain's failing tennis players where it hurts - in the pocket.

Having already lambasted their poor fitness levels, Draper has promised to cut the funding of players who show no sign of making the world's top 100.

Britain's No 1 lady, Katie O'Brien, who also succumbed on Thursday, fully agreed with his controversial ploy.

"The LTA have given all the players fantastic opportunities", said the former Woodhouse Grove School pupil.

"Some people just sit there and take it, do not put in the hard work themselves.

"You can use it either way. I want to try to use it as positively as I can because I realise this is the greatest opportunity I will ever have and they are doing everything they can to help me so it is down to the players.

"It is good that the LTA have been tough on the players maybe moaning about things which is not really justifiable considering the funding they have had over the years."

Full marks to that girl. Initially, targeting those that aren't even in the top 100 would suggest Draper's move would do little to improve the chances of the likes of Murray.

But if tomorrow's kids are made to work harder for their goals from an earlier age, maybe the LTA could sort the wheat from the chaff sooner as well and, as a result, leave more over to finance the real talent.

It still might not produce a Wimbledon champion any time soon but at least some people are showing a desire to take things forward and not settling for the traditional second - or 120th - best.