Four-time Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray is not dwelling on past failures as he prepares to lock horns with nemesis and defending champion Novak Djokovic. The world number two will now face Djokovic in a rematch of last year's final, having lost two deciders against the Serb prior to that in 2011 and 2013 on Rod Laver Arena.
But the two-time major champion insists he has nothing to fear against the world number one on Sunday. "Five finals is a great achievement. You can't take that away from me. I should be happy about that," Murray told reporters after spending over four hours on court. There's very few players that will have made five Australian Open finals, so I have to be proud of that achievement.
"Obviously when you get to the final you're disappointed if you don't win. But, I've obviously played very good tennis here. I've given myself many opportunities to reach the finals... seven straight quarter-finals as well. I have a very good shot on Sunday if I play my best tennis. I need to do it for long enough to have a chance. I'm aware of that. I don't think many people are expecting me to win on Sunday. I have to just believe in myself, have a solid game plan, and hopefully execute it and play well.
"It doesn't matter what's happened in the past really. It's about what happens on Sunday. There's no reason it's not possible for me to win."
Of Djokovic having an extra 24 hours to recover for the showpiece following his four-set win over Roger Federer on Thursday, Murray added: "It's worked both ways for me. I played five finals. Definitely not every time it's been me playing on the Friday. I think a couple of times I played the Thursday match.
"I think obviously, if you play a quick match on the Friday, it doesn't really make a huge difference. Obviously you play the five sets it isn't ideal, but Novak also won here the time we played five hours and then played a six-hour final. So it's doable."
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