The day I beat Henman

The resort of Vale do Lobo

With Wimbledon looming I blew the dust off my ageing racket and signed up for a light-hearted tennis holiday in the sun.

What I didn't expect was to find myself playing with Henman!

Lawyer Mike Henman, that is, the 34-year-old brother of Tim.

Our big clash came at the Roger Taylor-founded tennis academy at Vale do Lobo in the Algarve last month

Mike has a heavier build than Tim, though he shares with him that unmistakeable square jaw. He also played very strong tennis. His first service was formidable.

I started off pairing up with him but we lost our short bout of doubles games. However, when we switched partners - so I was playing against Mike - we won.

There cannot be many public park tennis players who can 'genuinely' claim to have beaten Henman.

He was kind enough to pay my tennis a handsome compliment, saying he hadn't seen 'such touch and good eye-to-hand co-ordination in a while'. Plainly he hasn't watched his brother play recently.

Mike was only there for a few days, not staying long enough to compete in the City Tennis Championships - a weekend tournament involving the 20 or so of us tennis holidaymakers and a further 50-odd from financial institutions in the City of London.

It is held each May and is fiercely competitive and sociable in equal measure.

The tournament is staged by Momentum Travel in conjunction with a company called Service Line which supplies professional tennis coaches to schools and clubs in Britain and to holiday resorts around the world.

There were mixed doubles, singles, men's and ladies' doubles, a plate tournament for those knocked out in early rounds and numerous short clinics run by professional coaches.

Nobody felt threatened since a full range of talent was on show, from those with Lawn Tennis Association ratings such as Scotsman Graeme Alton, who won three finals in a marathon of tennis on the Saturday, rendering him almost too tired to pick up his prizes that evening, to seasonal, recreational players like myself.

Director of Momentum Travel, Amin Momen, told me: 'It works well because of the fabulous setting and the time of year. People can get top-class tennis coaching before the summer when they might be committed to other holiday plans.'

Guest Matt Chilton, presenter of BBC's Ski Sunday and a commentator at Wimbledon, said: 'My season of ski racing coverage is over and this is a great way to get a tan below my neck, relax and get a quick fix on my tennis technique.'

The weather was excellent. In early May it was a reliable 28 degrees with uninterrupted blue skies.

A welcome cooling breeze comes in off the Atlantic at night, enabling guests to sleep without using the air conditioning in the attractive whitewashed villas.

Still, the heat was intense enough to make the organisers arrange tennis clinics in the morning and early evening.

Though, as many found, it was easy to miss the later session once seduced into relaxing either by your own villa's plunge pool or at one of the numerous beach restaurants where the local catch of the day is grilled on open fires and bottles of chilled rosé wine seem to come and go as regularly as the waves lapping at the shore.

Former England soccer captain Alan Shearer chose May to visit Vale do Lobo, where he and fellow players Michael Owen and David Seaman have homes.

We saw him enjoying himself in the main bar/club, Monty's, four nights on the trot with a bunch of mates.

Golf is also on offer
at Vale do Lobo

The resort's Communications Director, Caroline Harwood, said: 'Vale do Lobo seems to have been adopted by many British footballers. But they are mainly interested in the fine weather and the golf courses.'

Mind you, they'd have to be good golfers to enjoy the Royal course which stages the Portuguese Open. I lost many balls in the variety of unforgiving hazards and had the most frustrating time of my life on the breathtakingly beautiful but notorious 16th hole, apparently the most photographed in Europe.

From tee to green, the par three stretches 180 yards with a 300ft cliff to your left where the beach and Atlantic directly below seemed to have a magnetic pull on every ball I attempted to put on the green.

Prize-giving night at the Meridien-owned Dona Filipa Hotel was a grand affair and I was pleased to pick up a small prize donated by event sponsors Veuve Clicquot and Fat Face clothing for me and my doubles partner, former British ski champion Konrad Bartelski.

We had managed to beat two tennis coaches in a match in which their handicap was having to use frying pans instead of rackets!

Travel facts

A three-night weekend break at Vale do Lobo costs from £548 including return flights from Gatwick, transfers, self-catering accommodation and full tennis programme. Contact Momentum Travel on 020 7371 9111.

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