Worth the wait
NEW YORK — For Andy Murray, and for Britain, this was all rather fitting.
Forced into a fifth set, despite winning the first two, against defending champion Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open final.
A record-tying 4 hours, 54 minutes of leg-burning, stomach-roiling, tales-in-themselves points lasting 10, 20, 30, even 55 — yes, 55! — strokes.
And hanging over it all, the knowledge that Murray came up short in four previous Grand Slam title matches, adding to the 76-year, 286-tournament drought since the last major trophy for a British man.
All in all, well worth the wait.
His considerable lead, and chance at history, slipping away, Murray dug deep for stamina and mental strength, shrugging off a comeback bid and outlasting Djokovic 7-6 (10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 on Monday to win the championship at Flushing Meadows.
“Relief is probably the best word I would use to describe how I'm feeling just now,” Murray said. “You're in a little bit of disbelief, because when I have been in that position many times before and not won, you do think: Is it ever going to happen?”
Yes, it did. Murray already had proved he could come up big, winning the gold medal in front of a home crowd at the London Olympics last month. That was part of what's become a special summer for him, including an appearance — although, alas, a defeat, of course — in the Wimbledon final. But this was different from the Olympics. This was a victory at a Grand Slam tournament, the standard universally used to measure tennis greatness.
“Even after I won the Olympics,” Murray recalled Monday, “I still got asked, 'When are you going to win a Grand Slam?”'
Djokovic, who had won four of the previous seven, said: “He deserved to win this Grand Slam more than anybody, I'm sure, because over the years, he's been a top player. He's been so close.”
Ah, yes, so close. Words used often when discussing Murray. Even by him.
His loss to Roger Federer at the All England Club in July left Murray in tears, his voice cracking as he told the supportive Centre Court crowd, “I'm getting closer.” He couldn't have known how right he was. And Murray appeared to be right on the verge Monday, after seizing an epic first set in a 25-minute, 22-point tiebreaker — the longest for a U.S. Open final — and then racing to a 4-0 lead in the second.But maybe it wouldn't have been quite right for this to come easily, given all that Murray and — since Fred Perry won Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships in 1936 — the British have been through, the subject of much conversation and consternation in the United Kingdom, where the first of what would become tennis' top titles was awarded at Wimbledon in 1877.
