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The question on all our lips is could this be the year Andy Murray wins his maiden Australian Open title...?

A three-time losing finalist, a semi-finalist and a quarter-finalist in the past five years - an outstanding record, but the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup is still missing from the Scot's already bulging trophy cabinet.

Melbourne is generally a successful hunting ground for the British No 1 in recent times, but the frustration of having failed to collect his third Grand Slam title is growing - surely it's just a matter of time!

Here, we delve into the archives and take a look back at how Murray has fared down under since his debut as skinny, shy teenager in 2006.

He had already won the prestigious Orange Bowl aged 12 and the US Open junior title in 2004, so when it came to the top events, Murray wasn't fearful of taking on any of the big boys.

Murray proved it when he was handed a wild card into his home Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2005 and won through the first two rounds before losing to David Nalbandian from two sets up.

2006-08

The following year, he headed to Australia for the first major event of the season with high hopes of making progress on the Rebound Ace surface in Melbourne. Murray's opening round opponent was Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela. 'El Flaco' was a claycourt specialist, but he had all the experience and expertise to brush the 18-year-old's challenge aside, inflicting a 6-1 6-3 6-3 loss. Murray would not suffer another battering like that in 156 Grand Slam matches until he was systematically dismantled by Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-2 6-1 in the semi-finals of last year's French Open.

In 2007, Murray showed just how much he had matured on court as he gained revenge over Chela in the round of 32, winning comfortably 6-3 6-2 6-4. In the next round he faced the second-ranked Rafael Nadal and gave the Spaniard an almighty fright before going down 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-4 3-6 1-6. Although Murray sent down 15 aces, he was unable to take advantage of Nadal's serve, taking just three of the 17 break points offered to him during the contest.

Murray was still at a stage of his career where he was growing into a fine physical specimen of an athlete and by the following year he was an established star - ranked 11th in the world - and headed to Australia having won the Qatar Open. He was seeded ninth with high hopes of reaching his first major quarter-final until he was handed the toughest of first round draws when he was pitted against big-hitting Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who was ranked 38th in the world. Murray ended up slumping to a 7-5 6-4 0-6 7-6 (7-5) defeat, but felt Tsonga, who went on to reach the final that year, was the far better player on the day.