TRYING to knock Novak Djokovic off his perch must be stressful enough without having to think about things like nappy changing and nursery furniture. Andy Murray would only be human if he went into the Australian Open slightly ever so slightly preoccupied by the fact his wife Kim is due to give birth to their first child in early February, while another looming distraction on the 2016 horizon is a Rio Olympics in August which offers him the chance to retain his singles title and supplement his outrageous family haul still further in the company of his brother Jamie. He is back in tow with another new mum in the form of coach Amelie Mauresmo, whose son Aaron was born in August.

The good news is that most observers fully expect the Scot to take fatherhood in his stride. Roger Federer and Djokovic have both done something similar in recent years and Brad Gilbert, his former coach, fully expects the 28-year-old to do the same. The more difficult part, though, is making a statement in the majors against those same two men, players who have proved his nemesis in recent years. Only when he can do that will Murray convince everyone that he truly is the daddy again. While the Scot has tasted serious successes in the past against both, the stats show he has won just one of his last 11 meetings with Djokovic and none of his last five against Federer.

The Serbian took three of the four Grand Slam titles on offer last year, losing to Stan Wawrinka in the Roland Garros final in the other, and the smart money is on him securing a similar tally this time around, starting with the Australian Open in Melbourne next fortnight. If anything he seems to be speeding up, rather than slowing down.

"There's no doubt that Murray had his most consistent year," said Gilbert, the ESPN pundit who is also a former coach of Andre Agassi. "The last two years he's had a very poor record against Federer and a poor record against Djokovic. Those are the biggest things. You can't now hope to win a slam and hope those guys lose. Potentially, like in this tournament coming up, if Fed is on his half of the draw, maybe he has to beat both of those guys to win a slam. That to me is the biggest part of equation.

"As for fatherhood, all you have to do is look at Djokovic who is one week younger, and he's playing unbelievable tennis since he's had a son,"added Gilbert. "For an athlete, when you have good balance in your home life, I feel like that should even make it better on whatever you do. That goes on forever - even if tennis doesn't go on forever at this level. Balance is huge, and learning how to be able to do it. But I have no qualms that Andy won't be able to deal with it."

Federer's pursuit of an elusive 18th Grand Slam continues, evidenced by the recruitment of Ivan Ljubicic as coach, but suddenly it is Djokovic - who has made it to 16 consecutive major finals - who has designs on his tag of the Greatest Player of All Time. "How long can he [Djokovic] keep this going?" said Gilbert. "I'll just say this: he's an incredibly young 28. He's in the prime of his career. To me, he's set to do some unbelievable damage the next couple of years. Right now he is as complete a tennis player as I've ever seen, ever, and that's anybody. First of all, he has incredible defence and movement. Most people think about that as the basis.

"But the biggest change in the last two years, the reason why I think he's become almost invincible, is how much more controlled offence he's played," he added. "The more I watch him play now, the more I start seeing a lot of the same things that he's doing as Andre Agassi. I think he's going to have a monster year. He's finished four of the last five years No 1 and if he does it again next year, it might be the best five- or six-year cycle ever."

Chris Evert, Gilbert's fellow ESPN pundit, is another who feels that becoming a parent could be an inspiration, rather than merely additional perspiration. "When things outside of tennis in your personal life start to change a little bit, it depends on the person really because it can be a great thing," she said. "It can inspire you. The marriage, playing the Olympics again, playing doubles with his brother, it could be a total inspiration, and he could look at this year as, My God, I'm so excited. I have everything in line if my personal life. Now all I have to do is go out and play tennis. To some people it could be a distraction. Emotionally I feel torn. I really want to spend more time with my wife. I just have more interests now, getting older. I think it depends on how Andy views it, as an opportunity or a distraction. But I tend to think that he's going to view it as an opportunity at this point."