WITH Wimbledon fortnight starting this morning, let's address the obvious issue straight away.
Can Andy Murray win at the All England Club? Yes. Will he? Probably not. But that's more a reflection of the strength of the players he's up against than evidence of any major weaknesses in the British number one's game.
As he proved at both Roland Garros, where he made the semi-finals of the French Open before losing to Rafael Nadal, and Queen's, where he won the AEGON Championship courtesy of thrilling victories over Andy Roddick and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Murray is the best tennis player this country has produced in half-a-century.
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The only problem, however, is that he is playing in an era dominated by three players who are better than him, two of whom can justifiably claim to be among the top five men ever to pick up a racquet.
In just about any other era, Murray would already be a multiple Grand Slam champion. As it is, Britain's wait for a first men's major since 1936 goes on.
There are reasons to believe this could be the tournament when things change, but they must be couched against a draw that is likely to see Murray tackling Nadal in the last four before taking on either Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer in the final.
Winning one of those games would be a career-best effort. Winning them both in three days would be a truly remarkable feat.
At least the Scotsman has form on his side though, having shaken off a lengthy post-Australian Open blip to rediscover both his best tennis and a sense of fun.
There are times when watching Murray is akin to watching a tempestuous teenager, but the dark clouds that occasionally accompany him disappeared at Queen's to be replaced by a sense of freedom that could yet prove his greatest weapon at Wimbledon.
If Murray is to upset the other members of tennis' 'Big Four', he will surely have to be adventurous from the outset, something that has not always come naturally to him on the bigger stage.
Particularly against Roddick earlier this month, the 24-year-old was going for winners all over the court, and a similar level of aggression could be his trump card over the next two weeks.
His serve certainly looks to be in decent working order, while he has always possessed a wonderful versatility that enables him to mix and match powerful ground strokes with a more traditional grass court serve-and-volley game peppered with all-but-unplayable drop shots.
The ankle injury that caused such concern in Paris appears to have healed, and while there is the potential for two tricky early clashes with Stanislas Wawrinka and Roddick, it would be a huge surprise if Murray was not competing in the semi-finals at the end of next week.
Similarly, it also would be a major upset if Nadal, Federer and Djokovic were not in the last four, and while there is likely to be a lack of unpredictability in the early rounds, the quality of the denouement should more than make amends.
Preference at the moment is for Nadal, primarily because he performed so imperiously in Paris, but also because after a period of equilibrium at the top of the men's game, the Spaniard finally appears to have Federer's number.
Whether he will come to dominate Djokovic so routinely over the next few years is open to debate, and while the Serb was understandably disappointed to relinquish a 43-match winning streak in the French Open, a subsequent period of rest and rehabilitation might have done him good.
If Djokovic rediscovers his form from the start of the year, he is more than capable of claiming a maiden Wimbledon title. For now, though, Nadal looks a safer bet.
In terms of odds, Serena Williams starts the women's tournament as joint favourite, a staggering situation given that she had not played a competitive match for almost a year before she eased herself back into the fray at Eastbourne last week.
While the men's game is going through something of a golden period, women's tennis is in the doldrums, and while some will bemoan the Williams' lack of application during the rest of the year, British fans are fortunate they continue to view Wimbledon as a tournament worth attending.
Serena and Venus are on opposite sides of the draw, but the latter is not the player she once was, and another all-Williams final is unlikely.
China's Li Na will be looking to build on her French Open success, while number one seed Caroline Wozniacki must surely do herself justice in a Grand Slam soon.
Maria Sharapova will also have her supporters, but in a particularly open field, it could be worth keeping an eye on Australian Sam Stosur, who is capable of springing a surprise.
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