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Murray wins marathon US Open
Published: 11/09/2012 at 08:06 AM
Online news:
NEW YORK : Olympic champion Andy Murray won his his maiden Grand Slam title on Tuesday morning, defeating defending champion Novak Djokovic in a hard-fought, five-hour US Open.
Murray won the match 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2.
Murray is the first British man to win a Grand Slam since Fred Perry in 1936 - and the first native of Scotland, ever.
He was the favourite of the crowd, but none cheered him so much as two other famous Scots and courtside spectators - actor Sean Connery and Manchester City manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
The match was a marathon, lasting just under five hours. It took 90 minutes to play the first set, and it was three hours old halfway through the third.
The first set was won by Murray on a remarkable tie-break that went to 12-10. That set the tenor of the rest of the match - Djokovic struggling mightily but just missing shots and games by extremely narrow margins as Murray pressed his narrow advantages on centre court at Flushing Meadows, New York City.
Before the match, Murray never had won two sets in a Grand Slam final.
The Scot faltered badly in the third set, as Djokovic showed his dangerous side, broke Murray twice and went to the rest area with a triumphant look on his face.
He came out for pivotal set four and immediately broke Murray in decisive manner. When he broke him again to win the fourth set, 6-3, Murray's body language was clear: "I am doomed."
But four hours and 10 minutes into the match, with the US Open down to a single set, Murray came out determined, quickly breaking Djokovic to go ahead 1-0.
He then won his serve and took the defending champ to double-deuce for the third game - and broke him again for a 3-0 advantage and went on to the win.
