The three-week tournament kicks off on Saturday with reigning champion Selby drawn against Fergal O'Brien.
Hendry has won seven world titles himself while Selby has taken two.
But the snooker legend thinks the Jester from Leicester will close the gap and make it three in Sheffield.
He told Starsport: “I think it’s very, very open. There’s probably six or seven players you could make a case for but if I had to pick one it’d be Mark Selby.
“The way he plays, he suits the long frame format.
“He’s very very tough to beat. He doesn’t have to be at his best to win matches and that’s crucial at the Crucible.
“When you’re playing long matches, you’re going to have sessions where you’re not at your best and it becomes damage limitation.
“Sometimes the difference between losing 6-2 or 5-3 in a session can be massive.”
There is a huge £1.75m prize fund on offer for the marathon event - with £375,000 going to the winner.
On whether Selby can match Hendry’s seven titles, the Scot said: “Ronnie O’Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, Shaun Murphy - all these players you can make a good case for winning.
“They are all at a level playing field and it’s going to be hard for one player to dominate.
“But if anyone has got the game for it, you’d have to say it was Mark Selby.”
Stephen Hendry was speaking on behalf of online betting site BetStars. Hendry has tipped Mark Selby to win the World Snooker Championship. Call it! with www.betstars.uk
