Former US professional tennis player Pam Shriver has had her fair share of experience at Wimbledon following five doubles title victories at SW19 and three semi-final appearances in the ladies' singles.
This year, the likes of Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will take to the grass courts once again for the elusive Grand Slam title.
With just one week to go until the tournament, Shriver, analyst for ESPN's televised Wimbledon coverage in the US, caught up with Sports Mole to discuss the favourites' chances of glory, if the public have warmed to Murray and who could be the dark horses.
Starting off with the tournament itself - obviously every Major is important, but as a former player, how does Wimbledon rank with regards to the other Grand Slams?
"Overall with people worldwide it sits alone at the top. Perhaps if you were from another Grand Slam nation - France, Australia or the US, you'd put your own country's Grand Slam on an equal footing with Wimbledon, but for all the players who play for countries that don't have Grand Slams, most really look to Wimbledon."
This year Serena Williams is the strong favourite to take the ladies' crown. She can win the tournament for the sixth time if she goes all the way. Do you see anyone stopping her?
"Well, she's definitely going to be my pick. She's going to be the clear favourite and if she serves the way she did at the French, no, nobody can beat her on grass. Now, if she has something happen, like at the Australian Open when she rolled her ankle and then just never quite got on track, there are a lot of people who can beat her. But the way she looked at the French [Open] and the way she seems to have motivated the moment, I think she'll win her sixth."
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Maria Sharapova, who was crowned Wimbledon champion in 2004, has won two titles this year and she finished runner-up at Roland Garros. How would you assess her form heading into Wimbledon?
"Her form's been really consistent since winning the French Open a year ago and completing the career Grand Slam. I feel like she's been in most of the Majors. She's been more consistent with her serve, she's really improved her movement around the court, and on paper she really looks to be Serena's top rival since she beat her in the finals at Wimbledon in '04. However, Serena's just dominated the head-to-heads [so] it's really hard to consider it a rivalry."
You're a three-time Wimbledon semi-finalist, Victoria Azarenka has reached the final four twice in consecutive years. Will that make her more determined to get into the final this time?
"Well, with her winning the two Australians and almost beating Serena at the US Open, she's the other part of the big three in women's tennis. I was so impressed, under tough circumstances, that she defended her Australian Open title.
"Probably one of the biggest crowd favourites was Li Na, because of a couple of reasons. Li Na is just a popular figure - a Chinese playing in the Asia-Pacific Grand Slam. She's such a likeable, fun interview and she had been in the finals of the Australian Open a couple of years prior. The controversy with Azarenka - what she did in the semi-finals with leaving the court after she had trouble closing up the Sloane Stephens semi - the crowds were so against Azarenka and for Li Na.
"Despite all that, she was still able to come through in the third set and play really good tennis to defend her title. I thought she showed a lot of character, a lot of toughness. She was the last player to beat Serena and she's not afraid of winning Wimbledon, she just has to have things fall into place."
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Switching to the men's side of things - Andy Murray has recovered from a back injury that put him out of the French Open. He lost the final last year, but won an Olympic gold medal on the same court a few weeks later. Do you think he'll feel under more pressure to win, especially now since he has a Grand Slam title under his belt?
"He's always felt a lot of pressure, particularly at Wimbledon. I actually think he'll be feeling less pressure this year because of his performance last year - both at Wimbledon and in the Olympics, and most importantly winning the US Open. So, I think he comes in with a certain level of a 'monkey off his back' because he showed twice last year that he can win the big final. I think he should go in this year feeling more confident, a little more relaxed. Of course, if he gets through to the semis and the final, the talk will be coming up again - the first man since Fred Perry, can he do it? But I think that he's shown that he's up to answering the big questions."
He seemed to win over a lot of fans when he made an emotional speech after losing to Roger Federer last year. Do you think the public's perception of him has changed?
"He's kind of like his interviews - that one aside when he was so emotional, which is always endearing, whether it's Federer or Murray who has the great emotions of a win or a loss, it's nice. I don't think Murray is ever going to be an athlete who's just adored. He'll be adored if he wins Wimbledon for sure, but he kind of has that mopey, complaining look and often times he shows you that something's not 100% - like a feeling that he's always leaning on an excuse a little bit.
"Having said all that, I find him also quite likable and I think he's handled the spotlight and the attention really quite well. But he and Serena almost have the same thing - they both need to get a little more PR savvy and just be a little better with their emotions and allow the crowds to love them and embrace them more."
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Rafael Nadal has made a remarkable comeback from a knee injury, winning seven titles in nine tournaments this year. He's played down his chances at Wimbledon, but how do you think he'll fare this time around following his shock second-round exit to Lukas Rosol last year?
"He has a great chance to win it again. People now feel like they have a game plan, I think the players can blast the ball and just hit huge. I feel like if there's any player who can play that style of game and has the encouragement and the prior blueprint of success by other players, [it] may make winning Wimbledon harder for Nadal. Let's face it, the big gambler, the big huge shots, the forehands, going for the serves are always going to play better at Wimbledon than anywhere.
"So, that alone may make winning Wimbledon tougher for Nadal, but one of the great things you love to watch in tennis is a great champion adjusting to certain kinds of games. I think we saw Federer do it after Nadal made his dominant run. He learned a few new shots - the firm, angled slice that stayed so low back across court to slow down Nadal's forehand. I think Djokovic a couple of years ago retold a few things to get to the level of a major winner, so it's fun to watch that."
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Roger Federer can become the first man to win the Wimbledon singles title eight times. Following his quarter-final defeat to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the French Open, do you think that will affect him mentally or will he feel more confident because he's back on grass?
"I think that when he steps on a grass court his level of confidence and comfort is greater than anybody of this current generation. I think that's a big asset on a grass court. The season is so short, just three weeks, it's such a short window of season that if you walk out there already comfortable, and you don't have to play your way into comfort, it's a huge advantage."
Obviously we can't forget about Novak Djokovic. He got to the semi-finals last year but failed to progress past Federer. How do you think he'll do this time around?
"Well, I look at it as a year where you could argue about any of the four winning - Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray. They're not four equal favourites but it's pretty close, about as close as you can get to four equal favourites. You still always think that sooner or later somebody from the group of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Tomas Berdych [will break through]. You just wonder when the reign of the big four's going to well and truly be stopped by somebody, but I don't think it's going to be this Wimbledon. I think it will be one of the four."
Who would you put your money on?
"Well, I haven't figured it out yet. The women's singles title is easy - it's Serena. I thought Federer would find a way to get to 18 Major wins, so he needs to win one more, so I may pick him because I think if he's going to win one more, it's going to be this Wimbledon or the next Wimbledon. So I may go out on a line and pick Federer but that's going to depend on when you hear about everyone's health."
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Finally, aside from the favourites, who do you think we should keep an eye out for in both the men's and ladies' singles?
"For the women, let's hope for a Laura Robson good run. I'd love to see Robson make a run to the quarter-finals and get some excitement in the second week. We've really missed that on the women's side in England for decades, so let's hope for that. On the men's side, you can always have somebody like a Feliciano Lopez - somebody who knows grass courts - to make a big run. I'd love to see one of the outside Americans to do okay - either John Isner or Sam Querrey, somebody who has got the big serve, big forehand and can make the most of the grass courts. But chances are it's going to be one of the big four and it could be all four again in the semis for the first time in a while."
ESPN.co.uk will provide comprehensive coverage of Wimbledon with live scores, video, and reports, plus fans can follow all the live action via ESPN CourtCast which provides real-time scoring and graphical play-by-play summaries.
Danielle Joynson
