Britain’s number one tennis player Tim Henman has laid out £73,000 to have a private jet on standby throughout October so he can be at his wife’s bedside when she gives birth to their first child.
Tim is scheduled to be playing the hard-court tournaments in Paris and Madrid during October while wife Lucy remains at home in Barnes, southwest London. But to make sure he gets to the hospital in time, Tim plans to lease 25 hours of “air-time” in a luxury executive jet which he will be able to summon to any of 300 European airports at less than 12 hours' notice.
Ranked number five in the world, the player has told interviewers he is determined to be at Lucy’s side when she goes into labour, rather than being stuck at a tennis tournament. Tim usually uses scheduled flights but the option of a private jet will give him greater flexibility as the day he becomes a father approaches.
Lucy, whose bump is now clearly beginning to show, is a regular at Wimbledon and will be turning out on Thursday to see her husband play in the quarter-finals.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
