Murray leaves trail of destruction in first week of Aussie Open

When a heavyweight seed cruises through the first week of a Grand Slam, people think it is almost a cert that the person will win the Slam on the pure basis of form. With Andy Murray, there is always a sense of unease with every GS he enters, more so in Wimbledon. With the spotlight partially away from him in the UK because of the time difference, the Scot is basking in the light (and heat) of Melbourne where high pressure is less intense.

The fourth round win over Jurgen Meltzer was a display of sheer class and temperament from the Scot. The Austrian was tipped to case some trouble with his impenetrable tennis, but Murray carved his way through anyhow by producing countless winners.

Four rounds of routine high quality performances has seen Murray regarded as a favourite to lift his first GS in Melbourne, also the scene of his crushing final defeat against Roger Federer last year. But last year was so last year. This year is the clever and canny Murray, playing high percentage tennis and cracking winners from all areas of the back of the court. The thing that has improved so much this season is arguably his mental state. On evidence of his displays so far, the Scot hasn't sulked in periods where his opponent is in a spell of ascendancy.

His serve also has a strong degree of assurance. His first serve often allows Murray to dictate the play from the baseline. In the first set against Illya Marchenko during their second round match, Murray smashed eight aces past the Ukrainian. Against the serve, Murray also displays strong reliability in his forehand as well as his backhand, gaining eight breaks of serve over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Against Meltzer, the same thing happened as Murray demoralised the Austrian world no 11 spirit in very much the same way to the Spaniard in the previous round.

To win every set of the tournament thus far by at most to the loss of just three games has laid the marker to his likely contenders for the tournament - Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, and Roger Federer. Whether he can his next opponent Alexandr Dolgopolov in the quarters will we know if he is up to the job.