Andy Murray CAN beat Novak Djokovic if he starts aggressively and hits him with the sliced backhand in the Australian Open final

Andy Murray faces Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final on Sunday
Mats Wilander encourages Murray to make use of cross-court backhands
Magnus Norman knows only too well of benefits of an aggressive approach
Jonas Bjorkman calls on Murray to delivers big first and second serves

Published:
22:30 GMT, 30 January 2016

|
Updated:
02:24 GMT, 31 January 2016

View
comments

Andy Murray will look to end his Australian Open drought but faces an uphill task against world No 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic, with the Serbian aiming for a record-equalling sixth Melbourne title.

Djokovic goes into the game as the favourite with five final victories while Murray has lost on all four of his previous final appearances, with three of those losses to the top-ranked Serb.

With Djokovic chasing his 11th Grand Slam title, Sportsmail looks at how Murray can clinch his first Australian Open title on Sunday, with the help of three respected figures in the game.

Andy Murray will look to finally end his winless run in the Australian Open final with victory at the fifth attempt

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic gestures during a practice session on the eve of his final match against Murray

Mats Wilander has called on Murray to exploit Novak’s weakness with the use of cross-court backhands

Mats Wilander – Seven-time Grand Slam champion and respected television pundit

Andy can use his sliced backhand to keep Novak at bay and make him come up with the power himself. Hopefully he mis-hits or hits short and Andy needs to be really quick to get on to the next ball.

Andy has to stay away from just hitting down the line for 25-30 shots for more than two rallies in a row. Novak is lighter on his feet and he will be able to keep that up for longer. Andy needs to throw in drop-shots and mix it up to the point where Novak’s game is not as good as it usually is.

Andy can challenge Novak with his cross-court backhand all day. I think Novak’s backhand is solid but Andy’s is more dangerous.

Magnus Norman – Coached Stan Wawrinka to victory against Novak Djokovic in the 2015 Roland Garros final

The game plan for Stan last year was to be aggressive in Paris and try to stay aggressive on the return games, to take advantage of Novak’s second serve. My advice was just play freely, enjoy the moment on the court and try to take the chances.

If you play up the middle of the court, you take away the angles, then maybe you can get a chance to attack.

Magnus Norman knows the benefits of an aggressive approach after it worked for Stan Wawrinka last year

Murray knows the importance of a good start against an opponent who readily seizes upon mistakes

Jonas Bjorkman believes Murray will have plenty of joy if he delivers big first and second serves on Sunday

Jonas Bjorkman – Former coach of Murray and nine-time Grand Slam doubles champion

Andy needs to get off to a good start. After beating Novak in Montreal last July, he has played him twice, got off to bad starts in both and never really got into the rhythm.

In Montreal he started to hit the ball nicely, was very aggressive on his returns and served well. Hopefully Andy can hit a little bit harder than normal and take Novak off his play a little bit with the returns.

The more you get Novak left and right, then he’s tough to beat. But if Andy can take him early with good returns or hit the big first and second serves, I think he has a great chance.