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Murray poised to strike in 2012 - Rusedski

Andy Murray has lost all three of his previous grand slam final appearances © Getty Images

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Greg Rusedski believes 2012 will be the year that Andy Murray breaks his grand slam duck.

Britain has not had a men's grand slam champion since Fred Perry in 1936, but with former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic under pressure to defend more than 13,000 ranking points next year, Rafael Nadal still reeling from six successive defeats to the Serb, and Roger Federer on the wrong side of 30, former British No. 1 Rusedski believes Murray is perfectly poised to make his move.

"Next year is going to be very important for Murray," Rusedski told Reuters. "This year he's had his best year at the grand slams, he got to the final in Australia [losing to Djokovic] and three semis in Paris, Wimbledon and the US Open. That shows he's getting consistent.

"Coming up 2012 will be a very important year for him because Federer is already 30 plus so he's in extra time. Djokovic cannot repeat the year he's just had and Rafa most likely will win the French Open but this year he's struggled from his high standards. So if you look at the opening for Murray, he's gotta win one in the next year or so if he's going to win a major."

While most multiple men's grand slam winners won their first major before their 23rd birthday, Rusedski insists the fact that Murray is already 24 is not an issue.

"The stat that is good for Murray is that he got into the top 10 before 20 years of age and there is only one player who has never won a major getting into top 10 before the age of 20 and that was Marcelo Rios," Rusedski said.

"The way he plays, he can beat 97 of the top 100 guys. But when it comes down to the final of a major and both guys are playing their best tennis, the one who is going to be a little bit more aggressive is going to come through. Murray has got the realisation of that after this year so he needs to put that practice into action."

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