There is an ever-growing mountain of pressure on Andy Murray to turn his promise and potential into Grand Slam honours sooner rather than later and where better to start than at Wimbledon?

The British public have, after all, been waiting since Fred Perry's success of 1936 for a male home winner and Murray's recent rise to prominence means he's certainly now considered as a realstic contender to achieve glory on Centre Court this summer.

Murray reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open last year, beating Rafael Nadal in the semi-final before suffering defeat to a majestic Roger Federer, while his three Masters Series crowns in Cincinnati, Madrid and Miami have seen him become established as the world number three.

Having also got the better of Nadal in Rotterdam earlier this year and boasting a 6-2 head-to-head record over Federer, there is no reason to be fearful of the game's two deadliest players at any tournament, especially on grass having warmed up for SW19 by winning at Queen's Club.

And now Nadal has been ruled out due to his continued knee problems, the path is much clearer for Murray to march towards the final, where he would expect to meet Federer.

Last year's run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals was his best yet and while 'that' breathtaking comeback against Richard Gasquet proved he never gives up under enormous pressure, he was brushed aside too easily by the class of Nadal.

This year he will benefit from a higher seeding so he'll back his chances to at least reach the semi-finals this time around and from there anything can happen.