Having lost an excruciating encounter with Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final, heart-broken Andy Murray regrouped sensationally well to win the Olympic gold medal in London to the delight of the host nation. However, having secured the Olympic title did not solve Andy's biggest issue: winning a Grand Slam crown. He came extremely close on four occasions, though nerves and the immense pressure took their toll and the British hope lost those finals pretty easily. Something changed though at Wimbledon when only an extraterrestrial performance by the world's greatest, Roger Federer, could stop an utterly motivated Murray.
Ignoring his previous habits, Andy did not spent much time rueing the missed opportunity. He hit the courts more determined than ever and his efforts paid off earlier than expected, at the London Olympics, where the Brit became his country's hero after winning two medals.
Coming into the US Open though he did not benefitted from the best of preparations, He retired before his clash with Raonic in Toronto, before losing to Jeremy Chardy in Cincinnati. Nevertheless, Murray's confidence was sky high and the foxy Briton was ready to launch his assault on the trophy. After two routine wins early on, Andy got into deep trouble in the third round, miraculously pulling off a 7-6,7-6,4-6,7-6 victory over Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. Having came through such a stiff challenge only boosted his confidence. Consequently, he went on to clearly dispose of Canadian young gun, Milos Raonic, before regrouping sensationally after a disastrous start to dismiss Croatian Marin Cilic in the quarters. Taking full advantage of Federer's surprising defeat to Tomas Berdych, the Briton booked his place in his second Flushing Meadows final, beating the Czech 5-7,6-2,6-1,7-6.
Tackling defending champion, Novak Djokovic, for the trophy, Andy showed nerves of steal in the first two sets which he won 7-6,7-5. A drop in intensity on his side though allowed the Serb to come back at the start of the third act and he quickly levelled the match at 2 sets all. At this stage Murray's faith seemed once again threatened, but he wasn't to be denied this time though, as he got his game together, breaking his opponent two times to win the decider 6-2. "Relief is probably the best word I would use to describe how I'm feeling just now," Murray said, adding: "You do think: Is it ever going to happen?" declared Murray who became the first Brit to win a Slam since Fred Perry won the same tournament in 1936. "Now they won’t ask me that stupid question any more," continued the ecstatic Brit.
The win not only ends the long drought in British tennis, establishing him as one of the sport's greats, but also propels Andy as a true contestant for the top of the rankings. "Will he become the next world number 1?" that's the hottest question on the tour right now.
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| Andy Murray held off a strong comeback from former world number 1, Novak Djokovic, to win a marathon 7-6,7-5,2-6,3-6,6-2 US Open final to claim an elusive first Grand Slam title. |
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