Djokovic appeared to have nullified the serve of 6ft 8in Anderson in the early stages of the match, breaking the South African in the very first game.
He added a second break of serve in the fifth game to lead 4-1 as Wimbledon final debutant Anderson struggled to cope with his power.
And Henman, a four-time semi-finalist at Wimbledon himself, reckons Djokovic’s clash with Nadal on Friday and Saturday will have had a lasting and positive effect on the Serb.
“Djokovic is able to get ahead in these baseline rallies,” Henman told the BBC during the first set, which Djokovic won 6-2.
“When played Nadal, the Spaniard was hitting so hard, so it must feel like he has more time when Anderson is hitting these ground-strokes.”
And Djokovic himself had already admitted ahead of the match that playing against the likes of Nadal pushes him on to higher levels.
“He’s probably the greatest fighter ever to play this game,” Djokovic said.
“He battles every single point like it’s his last. That’s something that is so impressive with Rafa. That’s what makes him so difficult to beat on any surface.
“You coming into the match against him, knowing that you have to earn your points, is already an energy-spending moment. So you have to be ready for it, obviously.
“That’s why you put in X amount of hours on the practice court, preparation, trying to be as professional as you can, because you need to compete with a guy like Nadal. He does the same.
“If you want to be able to compete on such a high level, eventually get a win against him in the big tournaments, then you have to give it all you got.”
Meanwhile, fellow BBC pundit Boris Becker blamed Anderson’s own semi-final exploits for the poor start; John Isner pushed the No 8 seed to 26-24 in the fifth set of their six-and-a-half-hour contest.
“You can see Kevin Anderson’s footwork is a little slow, he still hasn’t physically arrived at the match,” Becker said.
“Who can blame him?”