Henman looks to Slams

"Having played Roger Federer twice early on in a couple of 'Slams', I know how you can really benefit from being seeded," the 32-year-old said after defeating Mark Philippoussis 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in an exhibition match on Tuesday.

Henman said he would attempt to play in 22 events in 2007.

"I have played around 20 events this year. Add another couple, and if you are playing well and winning that's plenty of tennis."

The former British number one told a press conference that he would not play in any more warm-up tournaments before competing in the Australian Open, which starts on January 15.

"I'm just going to go straight down there," he said. "I've done lots of different things in the lead-up to it in previous years so I'll go to Melbourne the Monday before and just practice and get ready and see how that goes."

Ranked 39th after an impressive comeback in 2006 from a chronic back injury, Henman has said he hopes to crack the top-20 next season.

He described his back as now being in "fantastic" shape, while the knee injury that hurt his form at the end of the season was "about 80 or 90%."

"My health is the issue. As you get older, physically it gets harder and harder," Henman said.

"But I feel the way I played in the last six or seven weeks of the season was a big positive for me.

"I had a lot of good individual matches with wins over players like Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin, and that is encouraging.

"Over the year, I've felt I didn't do a lot - but I still managed to finish 39. If I could pick three or four matches and turn the defeats into victories I could well have been around 25.

"The level of tennis I played in individual matches was inside top-20 level. But the consistency wasn't there, and that's something I need to work on."

Henman also discussed his post-playing career, indicating he could remain in tennis as a coach.

"I would like to think there's going to be plenty of opportunities," the former world number four said.

"I feel tennis has dominated my life for so long that I might like to step off and do something completely different. But it's also my passion, and I do think I have something to offer.

"Working with some of the younger players takes travel out of the equation - which would be something positive for me - although I hope it's a little way off yet."