Contented Henman bows out

[Croatia croatia]

im Henman bowed out of grand slam tennis with a second-round defeat at the U.S. Open on Friday, but said he would be leaving the sport content that he had made the most of his potential.

Henman, who will turn 33 next month, announced last week that he is to quit after Britain's Davis Cup world group playoff with Croatia at Wimbledon next month.

The Briton was beaten 7-6 2-6 7-5 6-4 by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France on Friday.

"I've got one more tournament - the Davis Cup, at Wimbledon, so a couple of nice wins there would be good," Henman told the crowd.

Though he admitted that he would have liked to have won Wimbledon, having reached the semi-finals four times, Henman said he had few regrets about his career.

"When I reflect on my career, I think I maximised my potential," he said. "This is as good as I could have been."

Henman reached the semi-finals at two of the other three grand slam events - the French Open and U.S. Open, both in 2004 - and reached a career-high ranking of fourth in 2002. He won 11 titles.

The back injury that had troubled him for the past three years flared up earlier this month when he arrived in the United States for the ATP event in Washington. Playing in pain, Henman said, was what convinced him to quit.