'Only one man can beat Federer at Wimbledon'

Aussie tennis great Pat Cash says there's only one player capable of stopping Roger Federer from winning an eighth Wimbledon crown.

Cash believes a rejuvenated Federer will be the man to beat at the All England Club next month and has suggested only defending champion Andy Murray is capable of stopping the Swiss.

BIG CALL: Federer's candid revelation about French Open snub

LIVE AND FREE: Wimbledon returns to Seven in July

After being blighted by injuries in 2016, Federer has enjoyed a triumphant return this year, winning the Australian Open in January before completing a Masters double in Indian Wells and Miami.

The 35-year-old opted to rest during the clay-court season, as Rafael Nadal dominated on the dirt once again, but the 18-time grand slam champion is now back in action as he targets an eighth Wimbledon crown.

Speaking at the Costa Smeralda Invitational 2017, Cash - Wimbledon champion 30 years ago - said: "For me Roger Federer is the favourite. I think he is playing the best tennis... almost the best tennis of his career.

"He's resurrected his backhand, found his backhand, or actually invented a new backhand. He's been incredibly deadly this year and nobody has been able to stop it.

"Andy Murray is the only guy who I really believe can stop him legitimately. But there are always other guys who are dangerous out there.

"There's [Stan] Wawrinka or there's [Milos] Raonic, there's [Marin] Cilic, there's guys like that. There's Rafa. Rafa is playing unbelievable, if he can translate the clay to the grass.

"But my favourite has got to be Federer. If he gets a few matches under his belt then he's going to be unstoppable."

After a stumble in his return to the ATP tour in Stuttgart, Federer got back to his best on Wednesday with a straight-sets victory over Yuichi Sugita in Halle.

Murray on the other hand suffered a shock loss to young Aussie Jordan Thompson at Queen's.

The World No.1 admits he will have to improve dramatically to mount a successful defence of his Wimbledon title.

Murray crashed to one of the worst defeats of his glittering career as world No.90 Thompson ended his reign as Queen's champion with an astonishing 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 first round victory.

Making the 30-year-old's humiliation even worse, Thompson, originally beaten in the qualifying rounds, was only playing as a last minute replacement for the injured Aljaz Bedene.

It was the worst possible preparation for Wimbledon, with the grass-court Grand Slam set to get under way on July 3.

Murray has now failed to get past the second round in three of his last four tournaments and has lost before the quarter-finals six times this year.

It is a remarkable crisis for a player who just eight months ago was sitting on top of the world after a golden year that including titles at Wimbledon, the Olympics and the ATP Tour Finals.