Andy Murray has admitted he briefly gave up hope of winning a Grand Slam after losing to Roger Federer in the 2012 Wimbledon final.
The defeat was his fourth in a row in slam finals, but the Scot regrouped to win the U.S. Open five weeks later and has since added two Wimbledon titles.
The world No.1 is now looking to end his wait for an Australian Open crown, having lost five finals in the last seven years. Following his opening-round win over Illya Marchenko, Murray hinted his loss to Federer in London had been the turning point.
Murray said: "I was really, really upset after that match [against Federer]. I was pretty down for a couple of days afterward.
"I said that I kind of accepted that I may never win a Grand Slam, but that I was doing everything that I could to give myself the best chance. Once I sort of got that into my head, that I was working as hard as I could and doing the best that I could, I was fine with that.
"It's not been easy, losing in your first four slam finals. It's tough. I had a lot of questions asked of my mental state in big matches and stuff.
"I just kept working, kept trying to find ways to get better. I feel like I've had a really good team around me for long periods of my career. So it's been hard, but I've enjoyed it. Just tried to keep learning all the time."
The No. 1 seed defeated Ukraine's Marchenko 7-5, 7-6 (5), 6-2 on Monday and will now face Russia's Andrey Rublev, the world No. 152, in the second round.
And while Murray admitted he was far from at his best against Marchenko, his day was further complicated by confusion over his water bottle.
He added: "I can see it now, actually, but I didn't know how big it was, if it was like one litre or 600 millilitres.
"I know how much I have to drink when it's a certain temperature. I couldn't find how big it was, so I didn't know how much I was having to drink. I still didn't see it on the court, but I can actually see it now. It's one litre."