Nation turns its longing eyes to you, Tim

Now the flags and the expectations shift to the resilient shoulders of Tim Henman. Tomorrow, Wimbledon moves centre stage and front page, and Our Hero is confident and ready, willing and (we trust) able to march the distance this time.

Closing in on his 28th birthday, Henman reckons he has another half-dozen shots at landing the title that means the most to him, to us and, for that matter, everybody else in tennis. Seeded fourth, his highest-ever at The Championships, he knows this year represents the best opportunity yet. Serve-volleyers are currently as thin on the ground as the sabre-toothed tiger and have not yet been supplanted on grass by the baseline chappies, as they surely will eventually. Here, then, is the chance. The feeling in this corner is that there will never be a better time, and certainly he could not have wished for a more accommodating draw.

Henman opens against the French qualifier, Jean-François Bachelot, and the second round involves nobody more demanding than another survivor of the qualifying grind, either Italy's Cristiano Caratti or the Australian left-hander, Scott Draper. In a section of the draw packed with European and South American clay specialists, Henman ought not to be troubled until the quarter-finals and the likelihood of facing Thomas Johansson, the eighth-seeded Swede who lifted a few eyebrows by winning the year's first Grand Slam, the Australian Open.

Henman claims to be in the form of his life, an opinion difficult to dispute with someone ranked fifth in the world, equalling his highest-ever in the ratings. The benefits of advice from Larry Stefanki, the Californian who took over his coaching just under a year ago, are beginning to show – for better, and in one respect, arguably for worse.

Stefanki has remodelled the Henman serve, persuading Tim to take off some pace in exchange for accuracy. This has troubled a pundit or two, that serve being regarded as our boy's nearest thing to a weapon. Certainly, he struggled to subdue such journeymen as Lee Hyung-Taik and Raemon Sluiter in the later stages of last week's Queen's Club tournament, frequently having to suffer the sight of his serves coming whizzing back past him as he charged the net.

But, all round, Henman's game has tightened and improved. He is ready to win big time, though it is ironic that two of the select group up there with him as possible champions are specialists in the art of returning serve with added venom, Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi. Victory over Henman in the Queen's final last Sunday was Hewitt's fifth in succession and Tim's acknowledgement – "he's better than me" was chilling.

However, Hewitt has not progressed beyond Wimbledon's fourth round in three tries and on Friday he was forced out of a grass-court tournament in Holland because of a stomach virus. For all that, he is No 1 seed, in keeping with his world ranking and, as one of that breed of Aussie hard men, will be difficult to dislodge.

As for Agassi, a sighting of him on the practice courts last Thursday revealed someone in fine form despite recent arrival from America – looking good, playing well and hoping to add another Wimbledon to the one he annexed 10 years back. A bit like Henman, except more so, Agassi knows that, at 32, options are diminishing.

Whatever happens, the next fortnight will produce a champion of greater standing than the year's first two Slams – Johansson and Spain's Albert Costa. The reason is that, whereas on clay and hard courts there are lots of possible winners, grass rarely needs more than two handfuls of fingers to tot up the likeliest lads.

Pete Sampras, seven times Wimbledon's champion in eight years, cannot be discounted despite his own admission that "I am struggling with my game." This Wimbledon marks the second anniversary of his last tournament title and this year has been one of continuing disappointment. But Sampras knows the way to win on grass.

It is marvellous to see Richard Krajicek, the towering Dutchman who interrupted the Sampras hegemony by winning in 1996, back in the field after missing the entire 2001 season because of surgery on his right elbow. Not a contender this time, alas, but someone who will be relishing a surface built for his power style. Others in that category are Greg Rusedski, benefiting from the seeding committee's decision to elevate him to 23rd spot, Mark Philippoussis, another surgery victim and wild-card winner, the Pinner-based Australian ace specialist, Wayne Arthurs, and Andy Roddick, the American who has not yet fulfilled the hopes of those who see him supplanting Sampras and Agassi.

Rusedski, 29 come September, has dodged almost the entire European clay court season, citing a neck injury, in order to concentrate for a big blast over the next two weeks. First-round defeat by Philippoussis at Queen's was a setback ameliorated by a better run at Nottingham and as the circuit's leading server of aces, the British No 2 also gets what should be the gentlest of starts against a qualifier, Jurgen Melzer, an Austrian of whom Greg confessed he had never heard. Roddick could await Rusedski in the third round and if it happens body armour could be standard issue.

On the women's side, only two fingers are really needed to count the favourites, which is what the Williams sisters have effectively raised to the game by fulfilling their father's prophecy and seizing the top two rankings, the headlines, the footlights and the world's imagination and admiration. Two of the last three Grand Slam finals involved Venus and Serena Williams and no one will be offering much in the way of odds against a repeat. Jennifer Capriati will be hoping to add Wimbledon to the three Grand Slams amassed over the past 18 months, but to do so both Williamses would have to be overcome. A tall order, though she can be trusted to give it a go.