Can Andy Murray become great in this era of tennis?

Andy Murray was unable to stop Novak Djokovic from winning his third straight Australian Open title, as he was defeated in four sets 7-6, 6-7, 3-6, 2-6.

It was a painful reminder that although he has come along way in recent years, he still has a very long way to go to really be regarded as a great in this era of tennis.

With this impressive hat-trick, Novak Djokovic has now won six Grand Slam titles and is looking like he is hungry for more. He is still a long way from Rafael Nadal (11) and even further away from Roger Federer (17).

In contrast Murray has just the single Grand Slam win which came in the US Open last September.

You can see the problem posed for Murray and the kind of mountains he has to climb. Credited Federer at 31 does not have that much more years in him at the very top.

On the other hand Nadal at 26 is still young enough the get close to Roger Federer’s 17 Grand Slams, but injuries are starting to play a major role in his career.

If age and injuries may even up for odds for Murray with Federer and Nadal, neither is a factor with Djokovic. He is one week younger than Murray and although anything can happen, he is as fit as anyone in the game and seems to be at his absolute peak.

I feel these next two and a half years and say 10 Grand Slams will be real important in Murray’s career. The onus is on him to really step his game up and challenge Djokovic….And more than likely Rafael Nadal for these big titles.

As good as Murray has been recently, it was kind of alarming the way he faded towards the end in the Australian open final.

Unfortunately he just could not live with Djokovic’s brilliance and was unable to sustain the quality in those long rally’s.

As I stated previously, he has improved in the last year or so, winning his first Grand Slam is testament to this. A lot of credit will have to go to his new coach Ivan Lendl, who was one of my favourite players and probably one of the greatest players to never win Wimbledon.

It was a brave and important move by Murray which has paid dividends. He now has his back room staff in good order, he also has the monkey off his back after winning his first Grand Slam. Now it is time to go and create a legacy.

This wont be easy though, as in most decades there always seems to be a player that dominates. In the 70’s Bjorn Borg was out in front with 8 Grand slams, three more than Jimmy Connors and John Newcombe.

The 80’s were close with Lendl and Mats Wilander joint top on 7, with  John McEnroe  just behind them with 6.

In the 90’s Pete Sampras was way out in front with 12 Grand Slams, 7 more then the next person Andre Agassi.

In the 2000’s Federer had the biggest margin of anyone winning a staggering 15 Grand Slams 9 more then the next person Nadal.

In this decade, there has only been 13 Gland Slams. Nadal and now Djokovic have 5 each with Murray, Federer and Juan Martin del Potro with one. Already Murray has much work to do, but there are still some 27 Grand Slams to compete for in this decade.

Andy Murray has certainly improved every year, the problem is, so has Djorkovic. If you then add the conundrum of Nadal and even Federer, then Murray will certainly have his work cut out for him to add to his Grand Slam tally.

The plus side is tennis fans are in for some epic battles along the way.

Murray has done well to even get amongst these elite tennis players.

But now he is within touching distance, he really needs to kick on and force his way into the Grand Slam picture. He definitely has showed signs of having the ability, but does he have that winners mentality to make it happen?

That will be the difference between a very good Andy Murray and a great Andy Murray!