2016 is Murray’s year and he can kick it off with Aus Open title

Djokovic remains the main man

Murry may have lost the last three against Novak Djokovic, but he has beaten the Serb in two other Grand Slam finals before, and stated he will be treating the Melbourne event as a priority this year, along with defending his Olympic triumph in Brazil.

“You just have to keep trying to learn, watch his matches, see if there are any weaknesses you can capitalise on,” Murray said of his long-term rival and friend.

“Maybe he has a drop-off. It’s very difficult to maintain that level for such a long period.

“I’ve been close many times and [winning the Australian Open is] my number one goal.

“I won the Gold in London four years ago so to try to defend that is another big goal for me. They would be the two main ones for me [in 2016].”

Main challengers dropping off

Murray’s quest for the crown Down Under has been made slightly more easy, given that all-time greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, although not down and out yet, are certainly past their peak.

On top of that, many young pretenders such as Marin Cilic, Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori failed to really capitalise on promising performances during 2014, and Murray on his day can make light work of them all.

The likes of more experienced stars Stan Wawrinka, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych, plus a resurgent Richard Gasquet and dangerous giant Kevin Anderson are all still threats, but again shouldn’t be too much problem for the determined Scot.

Murray on the cusp of greatness

So, while there is no doubt that Murray is a British and modern day great of the game, he still has much to do in order to be immortalised and placed amongst the all-time elite.

Back him to go all the way in Australia, and perhaps gain one of Wimbledon and the US Open too. He is a brilliant 7/1 shout to claim two Grand Slams in 2016, or 40/1 to win three.

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Check out more in our tennis archive, ahead of the 2016 Australian Open.