Australian Open 2017: Andy Murray poised to end finals jinx against Novak Djokovic

Andy Murray, the reigning world No. 1, is confident about ending his finals jinx at the Rod Laver Arena in the forthcoming Australian Open 2017, the first grand slam of the new year.

Murray has made five finals appearances at Melbourne Park only to fall short on each occasion. After falling to Roger Federer in 2010, Murray has lost four championship deciders to arch nemesis Novak Djokovic (2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016). While Djokovic still holds a psychological edge over Murray in big-ticket encounters, the Scotsman is coming off a highly successful 2016 and could potentially strengthen his world No. 1 ranking.

With Djokovic chasing a record seventh Australian Open crown, the odds are stacked against Murray and the recently knighted tennis star is ready to cope with the pressure. "Each time I come, I think I’ve got a chance of winning but it’s just never happened. Hopefully, this year will be different.

“I do think the last few months of last year can help me with giving me a bunch of confidence — other players look at that and see you’re playing well, and (I) feel physically and mentally strong," Murray said on Thursday, via The Australian.

Sir Andy Murray had a spectacular 2016

Murray experienced a sublime 2016 which included an Olympic gold medal at the Rio Games, his second Wimbledon championship and a 28-game winning streak that came to an end in last week's Qatar Open final loss to Djokovic. Thereafter, Murray received his knighthood in the New Year's honours list.

“I’ve never had that consistency before and those results before but the challenge when you’re at the top is to try to stay there and a lot of people say that’s harder,” said Murray, who has held onto the World No. 1 ranking since Nov. 7 of last year.

For many years, Murray was viewed as the fourth wheel in the era dominated by Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. According to the 29-year-old, the birth of his daughter Sophia last February gave him a new perspective towards life and tennis. “I didn’t have as many ups and downs last year; I wasn’t getting too high when I was winning and too low when I was losing because tennis wasn’t the most important thing anymore."

To prepare for the Australian summer, Murray revealed that he spent training in the heat of Miami, Florida during an ATP tournament in the U.S. “I would love to win it (Australian Open 2017) but I don’t feel different coming in this year to any of the other years in terms of the pressure I’m putting on myself. Maybe that changes if I get close to the final but, right now, I don’t feel it.”

The 2017 Australian Open will run through January 16-29. Veterans Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will enter the men's draw as the No. 9 and No. 17 seeds respectively.