Murray's moment of truth is round the corner

Murray scored two wins over the world No 1 in their three latest meetings, the most recent being in the semi-finals of the Dubai event. With the Scot playing super solid tennis and Novak a bit below par, Murray prevailed in just two sets 6-2 7-5, handing Djokovic his first defeat of the season.

In fact, the world No 4 had his chance to upset the Serbian hot-shot in Melbourne when he was up a break in the final set during the semi-finals of the Australian Open. But just like Rafael Nadal in the final, Murray blew the opportunity, allowing the mentally tougher Djokovic to claw his way back.

But instead of letting such a painful memory linger in his mind, Murray let go of it and proved he could derail the world’s hottest player of the moment. What did he do? Nothing special – just pushing one extra ball back to Djokovic’s court, a basic thing that everyone knows but just cannot do.

One of Murray’s strengths is his ability to frantically chase the ball down. This is known to be a feature of Rafael Nadal’s game, but what differentiates the Scot from the Spaniard is the ability to read Djokovic’s shots.

That explains why Rafa, no matter how consistent he is from the baseline, cannot stay in rallies long against Djokovic, who most of the time whips winners from both angles to tame the “Spanish Bull”. And although Nadal attempted to take more risks, which made him more competitive, especially in the Australian Open final, it has not worked on a long-term basis. Simply, it is not his game. For the above reasons, Nadal has lost his last seven matches to Djokovic dating back to the beginning of 2011.

Murray, on the other hand, is good at predicting the directions of the shots from Novak’s racquet. He can retrieve shot after shot from the No 1 player, who consequently loses patience. It’s normal that big-hitters do not like it when their opponents answer every shot. Power-gamers are lured to slam the ball even harder, which means more risks are taken and more errors happen. Novak obviously made uncharacteristic errors in that match against Murray in Dubai.

It requires a physically strong player to stay in long rallies. Over the past five years Murray has transformed from a lanky kid to a buffed boy. His legs, particularly, are stronger. That contributes to his speedy footwork and stamina, one of those things top players need to have to stay above the bunch.

Aside from the solid back-court game, Andy also has the big guns – booming serves and attacking ground strokes. So he can not only return all shots, but also whip winners past his opponents when off guard. That’s what it takes to counter-punch with Djokovic.

However, when it comes to mental strength, I’m not sure if he is in the same league as Djokovic, Nadal or Roger Federer. His ability to maintain his focus throughout the match against Novak in Dubai shows that there has been some progress in this area. So it’s a matter of consistency from now on. If the British hope, with back-to-back finals between 2010 and 2011 as his best record in majors, has the self-belief and carries his momentum every time he walks on court, he is the one to match Novak.

Once he’s there, I believe his Grand Slam breakthrough will come, and most probably sometime this year.