Andy Murray's battle to bring down Novak Djokovic starts from the very first round of the Australian Open, according to former British number one Greg Rusedski.
Murray opens up against German 18-year-old Alexander Zverev on Tuesday as he bids to win his first ever title in Melbourne and a third grand slam overall.
To do so he will likely have to overcome Djokovic, who is top seed and hot favourite to secure a sixth success at the tournament in nine years.
Three of his finals came against Murray, who has beaten Djokovic only once in their last 11 meetings and lost to him at both the Australian and French Opens last year.
Rusedski believes Murray's best hope of turning the tide is to be more aggressive but says the Scot has to hone his tactics towards the Serb right from the opening round.
"He needs to stay aggressive from the beginning to the end of the tournament," said Rusedski, who is covering the Australian Open for Eurosport.
"That way he gets into the habit of it. He was doing that when he had Ivan Lendl as coach and I think Jonas Bjorkman was getting him back to that a bit as well last year.
"Ivan's theory with Andy was always he has to play all the way through the tournament exactly how he's going to play Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic at the end.
"You have to practise it, you can't just turn it on and off like a switch."
Murray will have Mauresmo back in his coaches box on Tuesday for the first grand slam since Wimbledon but there will be no Bjorkman after his involvement ended following the Frenchwoman's return from maternity leave.
Bjorkman oversaw a noticeable improvement in Murray's volleying and creativity last year and Rusedski believes the Swede's absence may be felt when Murray takes on the top players.
"The question mark I have is he's gone back to Amelie Mauresmo and I was a little surprised that Bjorkman wasn't going to continue in that partnership as well," Rusedski said.
"A lot of people felt Jonas had worked very well alongside Amelie and had helped Andy to be more aggressive in big matches.
"If there were too many cooks, I'd like to finish number two in the world and win the Davis Cup - things seemed to be cooking pretty well there to me."
Murray has made clear he will fly home and quit the tournament if his wife Kim goes into labour early. She is due to give birth to their first child in the middle of February.
Rusedski took the Australian Open off prior to the arrival of his daughter in 2006 but he understands Murray's decision and does not believe he will be distracted.
"My answer is quite simple. I took a month off in January but I wasn't the number two in the world so I didn't have the same issue," Rusedski said.
"It's important to him as it is for any dad to be there for the birth but I don't think it'll affect his mentality.
"In fact having a baby, it gives you another perspective. If you look at Djokovic who has become a dad and got married, he went from strength to strength. The same for Federer.
"Tennis doesn't become all-encompassing when there's another person in your life. I felt that when I was playing."
:: The Australian Open is LIVE and exclusive only on Eurosport. Coverage starts at midnight on Sunday 17 Jan.
Source: PA
