Andy Murray

Andy Murray reached the pinnacle of his tennis career when he reigned supreme at Wimbledon this year, giving British fans their first home-grown winner since the late great Fred Perry in 1936. 

After his Wimbledon success, Murray took time out to have surgery on his lower back. With his return currently ear-marked for the Australian Open, can the wily Scot kick off his 2014 season with another major?

The Australian Open offers a hard playing surface, which boosts Murray's chances of victory tenfold. The pace of the hard surface suits Murray perfectly; it's a court that benefits the faster man and, as we have often seen, Murray is fast. Where some players falter due to being a touch flat-footed, Murray has a spring in his step and returns balls that would be deemed unreturnable by some players. 

Murray's record at hard surface Grand Slams is very impressive. He has won and finished runner-up at the US Open and has been the runner up in the Australian Open three times. In Masters 1000 tournaments, he has reached 12 hard court finals, winning nine of them. There is no question that alongside Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray is currently the best player on the hard courts, so he will definitely be thinking that the Australian Open is there for the taking.

However, Murray isn't expected to make his return from injury until the Brisbane International on the 29th December, which gives him just two weeks before the start of the Australian Open. This lack of competitive game time could considerably hinder Murray's chances of prevailing. In tennis you need to find a natural rhythm, but to do this you need to play consistently. Murray has got just two week to find a rhythm that will win him games. If you look at Rafael Nadal's Wimbledon campaign in 2013, you can see how important consistency is, the Spaniard crashing out in the first round. The fact that Murray will be playing his first bit of tennis in three months could see him crash out early.

Perhaps the biggest obstacles that Murray will have to overcome are Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Nadal's return from injury has been nothing short of miraculous, with his storm de force showing at the US Open showcasing a fantastic season. Nadal is a player that Murray struggles against and the rampant Spaniard would surely dismantle an unfit Murray. As for Djokovic, he is as mercurial as ever and again would beat an unfit Murray easily.

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