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Murray tipped for Wimbledon

London - Former player and current BBC television commentator, Tim Henman, has entered the annual Wimbledon hype zone, tipping Andy Murray as a decent candidate for the title.

It's been three quarters of a century since the last British man did the honours through Fred Perry in 1936.

With Murray's clay season a relative bust, the world number four will be looking for salvation, starting with next week's tune-up on grass at Queen's club London, where he is defending the title.

But it's at the All England Club where four-time Wimbledon semi- finalist Henman believes his compatriot can finally fulfill the national tennis dream.

"There's no reason why Andy Murray can't win Wimbledon," Henman told British media as the pressure starts to mount. "He's still top five in the world and grass is a good surface for him.

"I don't think it will take him a lot of time to make the transition from the French Open. After Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal he's definitely in the next bracket of those who could challenge."

The former British tennis hero came to the defence of the beleaguered sport, which may suffer this summer due to competition from the Soccer World Cup in South Africa.

But Henman warned that sagging British tennis cannot hope to turn its fortunes immediately, with a wait of at least two years expected until another male player can likely join Murray in the Top 100.

"It's not good enough and there's certainly a big void behind Murray.

"You have to look at the whole structure - at the grassroots. We're up against rival sports, but there's no magic secret.

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