The transition from clay to grass is especially difficult for those players who have done well at the recent French Open. You couldn't have two surfaces that are more opposite. Clay courts are slow and more conducive to long baseline rallies. Grass courts are fast and rarely do points go more than six or seven shots.

	Mal's Picks
	Washington Former ATP Tour pro MaliVai Washington is providing ESPN.com with in-depth analysis during Wimbledon. Washington, a tennis analyst for ESPN, reached the 1996 Wimbledon final.

That's why you see players trying to play one or two warm-up events on grass leading into Wimbledon just so they can get some match play and practice as much as they can to make the adjustment as quickly as possible. Another factor in the transition, which I thought was the most difficult part, was catching up to the quickness of grass. For the better part of two months, players have been on clay with their reaction time slowing down; now, they have to make the transition back to the fast surface of grass.

There are five guys who have a legitimate chance of winning the championship: Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt and Tim Henman.

Pete Sampras

Player	Mal's Analysis
	Pete Sampras makes the list because he is the undisputed king of grass until someone beats him. Even though he hasn't won a tournament since last year's Wimbledon, he's still the man to beat.

Andre Agassi

Player

Mal's Analysis

Whenever Andre Agassi's in a tournament he's a contender. Agassi didn't have a very good clay-court season, and he's very eager to put his stamp back on the tour again. He started out the year so hot, and he won here before in 1992. If the draw presents itself, he's the type of player who can move very quickly through the draw. Don't be surprised if at the final weekend of the championship he's still there.

Patrick Rafter

Player	Mal's Analysis
	Patrick Rafter is too great of a serve-and-volleyer not to win Wimbledon sometime in his career. He looked like he was going to do it last year. This might be his last chance if the rumors about him retiring at the end of the year are actually true. Looking at the draw, he has a great chance to get through to the semifinals without playing anyone who at this moment is a serious threat to him.

Lleyton Hewitt

Player

Mal's Analysis

It's surprising at how well he's doing on grass. He won Queen's a week ago for the second consecutive year. If you win Queen's Club you're a legitimate contender. His play is reminiscent of Andre Agassi in '92 in that he's not a player who you look at and say now here's a grass-court player. But because of his quickness around the court and return of serves, he has the ability to beat anyone on grass. He's beaten Sampras two consecutive years at Queen's on grass. He's the only player to have recently beaten Sampras twice on grass (Goran Ivanisevic defeated Sampras in '91 and '92).

Tim Henman

Player

Mal's Analysis

Tim Henman -- Britain's favorite son -- would love nothing more than to win his country's Grand Slam. But the man who has gotten in his way on more than one occasion has been Pete Sampras and it could be Sampras again in the quarterfinals. If Henman gets that far and beats Sampras he has the style of game that could put him in consideration as the best grass court player. I don't know if he has the guts to do it with the pressure of his home country watching him. It would be a monumental task.

Roger Federer

Player	Mal's Analysis
	There's no reason to think that he can win Wimbledon because he's never been past the first round, but I really like his game. I like what he can do with a tennis ball. He has the all-court game that could be successful on any surface. He's such an outside shot. I don't think this year is his year, but I like him anyway.

Andy Roddick

Player

Mal's Analysis

Andy Roddick is still riding high from his clay-court success and that's not even considered his best surface. With his serve, he has the potential to literally dominate a match with that one shot because rarely will he get his serve broken, which then makes it easier to break your opponent's serve. If he continues to develop his attacking game, he could someday be a great grass-court player. He'll probably win a couple of rounds at Wimbledon. He won't contend for the title, though.