US Open 2012 Final Review: Andy Murray, The Grand Slam Champion

Just yesterday, Andy Murray became the first British winner of a Grand Slam in the open era; a very fine achievement in itself. But not only that, he did it in an epic five-setter against Novak Djokovic who has reached the finals in New York four times.

The matched lasted a massive four hours and fifty-four minutes and it had an incredible amount of ups and downs. Although the match has been hailed as one of the greatest Slam finals of all time, the quality of the tennis was not very high for the first four sets at all - the fifth was probably the set of highest standard. Some of this can be put down to the very tricky conditions throughout the whole match; the wind was treacherous. This led to a lot of errors from both men.

Having said this, the first set tiebreak was very entertaining. They both played nervously and were not aggressive, this made for a lot of long rallies. But what won Murray that breaker was his guts towards the end of it. Murray took the initiative in the last three or four points and took the attack to Djokovic. It paid off. Murray stormed to a massive 4-0 lead in the second and looked as if he was going to run away with it, playing very good aggressive stuff. But he took his foot off the gas and started to contain. Djokovic on the other hand worked himself into some good form and cut out his errors and went on a very good spell. But it was not to be, Murray gutsily took the set into his own hands and squeezed it 7-5.

Never ever count the Serb out. Now that Murray was very much in the ascendancy, he once again started to contain - the nerves must have been getting to him. You can't afford to do that against Novak. His mental reaction was awesome and he ate Murray up, levelling it up at two sets all. Both players went off for a toilet break.

The fifth set, crunch time. The momentum was fully with Djokovic but Murray broke him in the opening game and eventually went on to win it 6-2, as I'm sure you know. This set they were both aggressive, which made for a nice change.

A Very Impressive Murray

What the most impressive thing about this match was the mental responses of both men; when Djokovic went two sets down, and Murray's response when he squandered a two set lead. He came out playing incredibly courageous stuff in the fifth and served a dream. This is something I'm sure that Lendl has helped him out with. The Murray of last year would not have won that set in those circumstances, but Lendl has given him strength of character. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. And damn, did Murray come. His mental response at the start of the fifth was the KEY to his victory.

A slam for Murray had been a long time coming, but it was always going to come - even if it had not happened this year. Although players like Del Potro and Berdych have all the credentials to win Slams, Murray is on another level - he's a very complete player and way too good to never win a Slam. I'm sure he'll win a few more.

Miami in Review, Red Stuff Next..

Had a hectic week outside of tennis and so I found it difficult to do my usual previews during the week of the tournament! The awkward timing of the release of the order of play in the UK didn't help either.

I managed to find enough time to watch most of the tennis, however. The first real upset being Andy Roddick's defeat of last year's semifinalist Roger Federer. Roddick managed to take the first set in a tiebreak - a set where Federer looked disinterested on Roddick's service games and returned very badly. In the past, Roddick's serve hasn't really troubled him - credit to Roddick though, he was very solid in that set. Federer brought the big guns for the second set and one it very easily, but the final set was not very similar. Federer's level did not drop at all but Roddick regained his serving form and played a blistering return game to break Federer with four forehand winners. A remarkable victory for Roddick - shame he could not repeat it in his next match - Juan Monaco slaughtered in a match where the American's legs simply gave in.

Monaco quietly made his way through the draw and came up against Novak Djokovic in the semifinal who had a reasonably simple run up until this match. The Serb was unstoppable in the first set - but a very spirited performance in the second set by Monaco almost paid off, but he succumbed in the tiebreak.

In the other half of the draw Nadal met Tsonga in the quarterfinals - a match where Nadal was far from his best and his serve looked especially feeble in the final set. This was maybe due to a knee injury he was suffering from which made him pull out of his semifinal against Andy Murray - a match I thought he would have lost anyway. I reckon this withdrawal was largely precautionary - so fair play to Nadal, he wants to be at his best for his beloved clay and I'm sure he will be. This withdrawal meant that Andy Murray got through to the final only having to play three matches!

In the final Novak Djokovic took the first set 6-1. Sounds one-sided but it was actually a close contest. The next set was of high quality, Djokovic having plenty of chances to break the Brit but never finally managing to get it - most of them were saved very well. Andy Murray came close to taking the set but it was destined to be a tiebreak in which unsurprisingly Djokovic played fearlessly and took it (7-4).

The Serb ultimately claimed his third trophy in Miami.

A thoroughly entertaining tournament, despite the fall of Federer and Nadal's withdrawal, which was concluded by a decent final contest - not anywhere near as close to the final we were treated to last year, which was in my opinion the best match of 2011.

Next up is Monte Carlo where all the top four are expected to be playing, sounds good!