July 1 will mark 40 years since a British woman won the Wimbledon singles title - and for the first time in nearly that long Virginia Wade can see the possibility of her reign ending.
Since that famous day in 1977, when the Queen marked her Silver Jubilee by presenting the trophy to Wade and the crowd burst into a rendition of 'For she's a jolly good fellow', the British challenge has been slim to non-existent.
Aside from Wade herself, who made one more semi-final and twice reached the quarter-finals, only Jo Durie in 1984 has got as far as the last eight.
Now Britain once again has a top-10 player in Johanna Konta, who has made a habit over the last two years of achieving things not seen since Durie.
When Konta won one of the biggest titles on the WTA Tour at the Miami Open in April, talk of another potential home champion grew from a whisper to something rather louder.
Wade told Press Association Sport: "I think she's got a chance to do very well, and by very well I think semi-finals.
"It would take a lot - a good draw, her playing well and everything going right for her to actually get to the final.
"Certainly without the ones who are constant winners, the Serenas of this world, maybe she's got as good a chance as anybody else. But it is a lot of pressure."
Konta has shrugged off any attempts to pile expectation upon her but Wade knows all too well what being the great home hope is like.
"It's awful," she said. "It takes a long time before it carries you rather than oppresses you. I would liken it to a wave that either takes you on an exhilarating ride or else dumps you in the sand a very unpleasant way."
Wade rode the wave in glorious fashion to win her third grand slam singles title nine days before her 32nd birthday.
A quarter-finalist 10 years earlier, she had been a perennial challenger before taking the final step just when she thought time was running out.
Wade defeated top seed and defending champion Chris Evert in the semi-finals before coming from a set down against Dutchwoman Betty Stove in the final.
"It's just hard to believe it's been 40 years," she said. "Years go by so quickly.
"I remember more my attitude rather than the individual matches. Obviously the semi-final I can remember pretty clearly against Chris because that was the big match.
"There was a lot about that tournament that was a good omen. I knew I was running out of time but I knew I was playing well and I was very motivated.
"Two years before I felt like I had been ready to win Wimbledon but then I played Evonne Goolagong in an unbelievably good match.
"The extra motivation of the centenary of the tournament and the Queen being there, it balanced in the right direction.
"You're always trying to tell yourself that this is the one and align all the stars, and sometimes you're fooling yourself."
Wade went into the final as the favourite against seventh seed Stove, who was playing in her first grand slam singles decider.
The big-hitting Dutchwoman threatened to spoil the party by taking the opening set but Wade won nine of the last 10 games in a 4-6 6-3 6-1 triumph.
"Of course the crowd was absolutely phenomenal but they were getting a little concerned and so I had to try not to be worried about losing the first set," said Wade.
"Fortunately I got a break right at the beginning of the second. I was probably momentarily nervous at 3-3 in the second set but from then on I got into 'the zone', I couldn't do anything wrong.
"I was so high in a way on playing well that I was chasing everything. I always remember she hit a volley out wide to my forehand. I was never going to get there but I felt like I could do anything and I flew into the tramlines and hit the deck."
Wade played in the women's singles at Wimbledon from 1962 to 1985 and has made the journey from her home in New York every year since.
"When I was playing in the seniors afterwards, I thought I better play one more year because then it will make it 40 consecutive years I've played at Wimbledon," she said. "And then when I calculated, I think it was 41, so I could have had a break in that last year."
Wade still plays a couple of days a week while Stove has swapped her rackets for golf clubs, although she follows tennis keenly and comes to Wimbledon every year.
The 72-year-old, who is just 17 days older than Wade, said: " Our clock must have been set on the same time.
"She beat Chris Evert and I beat Martina Navratilova, and those were the up and coming stars, and we were the oldies.
"Obviously the English wanted to have Sue Barker and Virginia Wade in the final, and I was the one in the middle and didn't allow that.
"But I understood, and Virginia had great support in the final, they carried her in the end. But it takes two to tango and you cannot have a final for one player."
Stove played in 28 grand slam finals in total, winning 10 doubles titles, and in 1977 achieved the remarkable feat of reaching the singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles finals.
Sadly for the Dutchwoman she was the runner-up in each one, but no player since has matched her.
"Now looking back, to be able to reach three finals, in modern days it's unthinkable," said Stove.
"All these years I've never looked back that much because life goes on. People remember me for that and the people bring it back. My heart is still at Wimbledon. It's the highlight of my life."
Source: PA
