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Henman predicts Murray close to catching Federer

Andy Murray is ranked No. 4 in the world © Getty Images

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Tim Henman believes Andy Murray is "very close" to catching Roger Federer in his bid to break into the ATP Tour's top three players.

Henman predicts it will be tough for Murray to lift the Wimbledon crown at the All England Club this week, as the Scot prepares to take on Richard Gasquet. Victory would send Murray into an appealing quarter-final against the winner of Feliciano Lopez and Lukas Kubot.

The British No. 1 will be expected by his army of fans to progress to the last four, where he then becomes an underdog. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have all won multiple grand slams, whereas Murray is still searching for his first.

However, Henman believes the stubborn right-hander will soon be inside the world's top three, insisting he is more likely to move up the rankings than down. Federer is the current world No. 3 and third seed at Wimbledon, and Henman is convinced Murray has the Swiss in his sights.

"I think they (the top three) are fractionally ahead," Henman said. "They've got 28 slams between them.

"But I think Andy is a very close fourth. The distance between third and fourth is much closer than the distance between fourth and fifth (Robin Soderling), so Andy has definitely separated himself from the pack."

Murray has asked the Wimbledon crowd to end the annual joke of shouting "Come on Tim" during his matches, something that has almost become tradition since Henman's playing days came to an end. The four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist, though, insists that is something Murray will have to put up with for the rest of his career.

"You hear people shouting them all - 'Come on Boris', 'Come on Sue'. It didn't irritate me. The support that I had and the atmosphere out on Centre Court was as good as it can get so I loved every minute of it.

"I said at the beginning of the tournament, and my view hasn't changed, that with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, I couldn't make one a favourite in front of another, but I would put all three just in front of Andy.

'He's played very, very well. I think the good thing is he can play better, but he's still winning and that's important."

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