The odds suggest she won’t make it. Her record on grass is poor, and she has only twice made it to the semi-finals at SW19 (at least she has made the final – twice – of the French Open, another title that has been just beyond her reach). Others have better records: Serena Williams hasn’t played a tournament in almost a year, and has barely even hit a ball in practice during that time, yet she is still a close second favourite to win Wimbledon.

But more importantly where is Clijsters mentally? She arrived in Roland Garros for the French Open last month feeling eager but crashed out of the tournament in the second round, suggesting that she almost wasn’t prepared to put in the necessary work.

In fairness, it might just have been a bad day at the office on an admittedly very windy day. Plus, she may have still been recovering from her anklebending dance floor injury earlier this year.

But is the initial euphoria of her stunningly successful comeback into the game waning? Does she still have the excitement? Because while she’s still the winner of two of the last three Grand Slam titles, it looked like in Paris as if that magic might be wearing off.

Her Flemish heirs cannot at this point readily pick up from her. Yanina Wickmayer, who is 18th in the WTA rankings, has yet to fulfil the promise of her thrilling US Open semi final in 2009. Kirsten Flipkens, at 25, has probably peaked, while An-Sophie Mestach and Alison Van Uytvanck, both just 16, are not ready yet.

Nor should we forget Kortrijkborn Xavier Malisse, known to give even the toughest opponents a good match, but at 30 is relatively ancient for the tennis world.

So, if someone from Flanders is to win Wimbledon soon, it will have to be Clijsters. She’s set to retire after the London Olympics next summer. Flanders will be willing her on this year and next, but it’s getting late.