THERE are few people in Britain who know just how Andy Murray will be feeling right now.

In fact, there are probably only two. With just two weeks to go before Wimbledon starts, it is almost impossible for the rest of us to imagine the pressure on a home player as he carries the hopes of the nation on his shoulders.

One of the two who do know is Greg Rusedski (the other is Tim Henman). The former world No 4 admits the pressure can work two ways: it can give the British player a lift or it can be a heavy burden.

"I think if you're confident and you're playing well, the home support is a great bonus, it really helps you out," says Rusedski. "But if you're coming into the tournament lacking confidence and not feeling good about yourself, then it can feel like a pressure and it can be a disadvantage. It really all depends on how your lead-up is and what your state of mind is like. I think Murray is in a good place right now so he'll relish it, he'll enjoy it and it's an advantage for him."

Rusedski's best result on the grass courts of Wimbledon was when he reached the quarter-finals, losing to eventual finalist Cedric Pioline, in 1997 - the same year he reached the US Open final. His fortunes at the All England Club were mixed though, with that lone quarter-final appearance sandwiched between a first and a second-round defeat.

"I enjoyed the external pressure when I was healthy and playing well but I think sometimes I put too much pressure and expectation on myself," Rusedski says.

"At times, I just wanted it too badly. It's about learning how to be comfortable with it; sometimes I liked it a lot but there were other times when I tried that little bit too hard which was a mistake on my part."

The Canadian- born Briton has been hugely encouraged by Murray's form and believes it bodes well for Wimbledon. "Andy's had a great start to the year; you can see he's improved a lot physically and he's been very consistent," he says. "He's playing well, he's moving well, he's happy in his personal life as well as on court and that makes a big difference. He's done well in recent tournaments and he's in a great position going into the grass-court season."

Rusedski is not bucking any trends when he names his favourites to lift the Wimbledon crown.

"Djokovic has to be the favourite, he's the defending champion, the world No 1 and he's been in great form," he says. "Murray is probably the second favourite and I think that he has a really good chance of winning these championships."

Rusedski is looking forward to seeing how Djokovic will bounce back from his French Open loss to Stan Wawrinka this month when the Serb saw the career Grand Slam snatched from his grasp.

"Djokovic has been the dominant force this year so far, apart from that one loss to Wawrinka so it'll be interesting to see how he rebounds from that," says Rusedski. "There was talk of him doing the calendar Grand Slam but he got a little nervous in the final of the French and Wawrinka played the match of his life. The only person who will know if that's what was wrong is Djokovic, but if you look at his last nine major finals, he's lost six of them. He's still a phenomenal champion though."

Rusedski is now a television pundit but he has dipped his toe into the coaching waters. Since the start of this year, he has been working part-time with Britain's top female player, Heather Watson, and while the travelling commitments will prevent him from becoming a full-time "supercoach", he believes former players can be a huge asset.

"I think current players working with former players is very important. If Andy Murray hadn't hooked up with Ivan Lendl, I don't think he would have had the success that he has," he says.

"You can be a very good coach but it's much better to have experienced it yourself. I think players need different things from a coach at different stages of their career but when you're looking for those one per cent improvements when you're in the top 10, that's when former players can be very helpful. I think the trend of super coaches working with world top-10 players will continue because they're looking for just that little something extra."