Wimbledon 2017: Patrick McEnroe sees 'no reason' why Johanna Konta can't win, but home pressure counts against her

Patrick McEnroe, who is one of the most respected commentators in the game, believes there is “absolutely no reason” why Britain’s Johanna Konta cannot win Wimbledon.

“If she can handle the expectations and the pressure, I think she's got as good a chance as anybody that's there,” said McEnroe, whose brother John will be joining him as part of the ESPN commentary team when Wimbledon begins on Monday.

“When you look at her game and you look at her athleticism, the way she plays, there's absolutely no reason she can't win Wimbledon. She's got a big serve. She's an excellent athlete. She hits the ball big off both sides.

“She can spray the ball a little bit, but when you look at the fact that usually it's really, really great athletic-type players that win Wimbledon, she's got a lot of those qualities to her. Maybe she doesn't have the variety and the hands, but, boy, she can pound the ball off both sides.”

Konta, however, has won only one match in her five appearances in the main draw at the All England Club and Pam Shriver, another of the ESPN analysts, thinks the extra pressures of being a home player will count against the world No 7.

“I don't think she's ready,” Shriver said. “I don't know if she'd be in my 10 to 15 possibilities. I don't think her current form is strong enough to warrant that. I think with the pressures of the home Grand Slam, I wouldn't put her in that.”

Shriver believes the start of the tournament will be crucial for Konta, who lost a difficult second-round match last year against Eugenie Bouchard, a former Wimbledon runner-up. Konta will be seeded No 6 this year, which at least guarantees she would not face any of the top players before the second week.

“She needs to sink her teeth into a couple of matches, take one match at a time, get to the second week with some confidence,” Shriver said. “She's been to the semis of a major before [at last year’s Australian Open] but when you've only won one match some place, it's not that easy.”

Shriver believes, nevertheless, that Konta can learn to handle the pressures of playing at Wimbledon in the way that Tim Henman and Andy Murray did.

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“I think the fact she wasn't born in England, she emigrated there later, does it take a little bit of pressure off?” Shriver said. “Perhaps. She plays a tense game anyway. Wherever she plays, she's kind of on edge. She's had a lot of help, as every athlete should, with how to manage the mental side, the emotional side.”

Asked whether the support of a home crowd would be an advantage or disadvantage to Konta, Shriver said: “I think it all depends really on what [her] confidence level is. She actually has a great ability to have a ritual on the court. She's very disciplined about that. She'll know what to expect.

“I think every player should embrace having the crowd totally behind them. What a great thing that is. Imagine being the other player. I'd much rather have the crowd on my side anytime, anywhere.”

As for Konta’s ability to handle expectations, Shriver added: “I think some day she will learn, just the way Murray learned to manage it. You learn to do it better as your career goes along. Careers are so much longer than they ever were, so she has conceivably easily 10 to 12 Wimbledons.

“That's how she has to look at it. It's not about this year, it's about learning to manage all that is there for the homeland player at Wimbledon. But I don't think she'll have a great Wimbledon this year.”