Australian Open 2012 live stream

You often hear about the 'Big Four' of men’s tennis, but some would believe, for the past few years it’s really been a 'Big Three' plus Andy Murray.

The Scot, while an extremely accomplished player with many Masters titles to his name, an impressive – if not respectable – win-loss record against his biggest rivals and a career high ranking of No.2, has had to watch as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have swept almost all of the Grand Slam titles on offer, quite often trampling over him in the process.

Yet how close he got on Saturday night to at last turning the tables. For almost five dramatic hours on Rod Laver Arena, Murray pushed the finest player in the men’s game at the moment, Djokovic, to his physical and mental limits, before succumbing 6-3, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-1, 7-5.

Never known for giving the chirpiest press conferences in the history of tennis – even after a win – Murray was refreshingly candid and philosophical after a match that will go down in the annals of Australian Open history.

“After last year, the year that Novak's had, I think there's a very fine line between being No. 1 in the world and being three or four. I think that gap, I feel tonight I closed it,” he said.

“My job over the next two or three months is to surpass him and the guys in front of me. So take a lot of hard work, and hopefully I can do it.”

It was a match that gave everyone a preview of what might be to come from Murray as the 2012 season unfolds, while still serving as a reminder that the established guard of the men’s game will be extremely hard to unseat.

For years criticised for lacking a killer forehand, an aggressive game-plan and a positive attitude on court, the world No.4 did everything in his power to reverse that perception. For the first three sets at least, the statistics indicated that the match was very much on his racquet

Against a player known for his scintillating groundstrokes, Murray produced 38 winners to Djokovic’s 24. Despite barely showing up for the 20-odd minute fourth set and falling behind 5-2 in the fifth, Murray again stepped up and met the challenge head on, hitting his way back into contention before Djokovic’s superior confidence and belief – the result of winning three slams in 2011 – ultimately decided the contest.

Murray is clearly conscious of these critiques of his game, and made reference to this in his press conference.

“Everybody matures at different ages and different rates. I feel now like I'm ready mentally. Physically I can still get better, for sure. But in comparison to how I played last year, it was much, much better,” he reflected.

“Everyone always says to me, ‘Andy's too passive; he doesn't go for his shots enough’. I think tonight I did that. I probably made more mistakes than him, but I'm quite sure I hit more winners.   

“So I was moving well and dictating a lot of the points, which is important.”

The influence of new coach Ivan Lendl is clearly shining through. Kindred spirits somewhat in that both lost their first three major finals – Lendl in fact lost four before going on to finish his career with eight major titles – Murray says that although he hasn’t had a chance to speak with the great Czech much, he’s happy with how the partnership has unfolded at this event.

“I feel like when you look up at someone like that in the stands it helps … I want to try and repay the sort of faith that he's shown in me by coming to work with me,” Murray revealed.

“Hopefully he was happy with the way I did and how I acted on the court. Hopefully at the French Open I'll do a little bit better.”

Murray said that his new aggressive mindset also paid dividends in the forecourt throughout the fortnight at Melbourne Park. Against Djokovic, he made almost 30 net approaches with a 70 per cent success rate.

While they’re all encouraging signs, it’s still going to take an incredible effort from the 24-year-old Murray to realistically insert himself into the conversation when it comes to who will bring home the remaining major titles of the 2012 season.

While always in contention, until Murray actually wins one, he probably cannot legitimately be considered in the same breath as his more decorated rivals. Although Lendl’s advice applied to the Djokovic match, for Murray it extends beyond that, to what’s required to take that extra step this season so that he can match – and ultimately beat – the best in the men’s game.

“He told me it was going to be painful. And he said, ‘you'll win, but you're going to have to go through a lot of pain to get there, so be ready for that’,” Murray said.

“He told me a couple nights ago, ‘prepare yourself mentally for that, to go through a lot of pain, a lot of tough points to play when your legs are sore and your legs are burning’. That (is) probably the main thing.”