fComing into the tournament at Flushing Meadows, Andy Murray found himself as the runner up from Wimbledon, where he had lost to Roger Federer in four sets. Murray had then exactly four weeks to the day defeated Federer on Centre Court at Wimbledon to win the gold medal at the London 2012 men's tennis singles in straight sets. The Brit was seeded three at the open and was in the same half as the Swiss. Rafael Nadal was missing from the lineup due to injury, just as he had been absent for the Olympic competition.
Early Rounds
In the first round Murray found himself drawn against Alex Bogomolov, Jr. The Russian did not trouble the third seed much during this match up, with the Brit running out the victor in straight sets 6-2, 6-4, 6-1. Federer (top seed) and Novak Djokovic (second seed) were also untroubled in the first round also both winning in straight sets. The second round saw Murray against Ivan Dodig and much like the first round, the Brit was relatively untroubled against the Croat who only managed to win six games the whole match.
The same applied to both Federer and Djokovic, who also proceeded to the third round with ease. Into the third round and whilst the top two seeds again moved through in straight sets, the Brit found himself in a match for the first time. Against Feliciano Lopez there was not much to separate the Spaniard and the Brit and the first two sets ended in tiebreaks, both were won by the Brit with exactly the same scoreline 7-5. The third set found the Spaniard managing to secure a break of serve against the third seed and this secured the set. Murray kept the pressure on in set four and as with the first sets ended in a tiebreak, with the Brit coming out on top 7-4 to move into the fourth round.
In the fourth round the third seed was again untroubled this time by Milos Raonic as he progressed to the quarter finals in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Over on the other parts of the draw and Federer had been handed a walk over into the quarter finals as Mardy Fish withdrew with health issues. The second seed began his match against the Swiss number two Stan Wawrinka and was soon leading by two sets, with the score poised at 3-1 in the Serbs favour, the Swiss retired from the match.
Quarterfinals
Into the final stages of the tournament and with the last eight men standing the surprise result of the round occurred. All the talk had been of a Murray v Federer semi final, and all had been going to the script. That is until up stepped Tomas Berdych (sixth seed) from Czech Republic. The Czech player had the match of his life taking the top seed to a first set tiebreak, which Berdych dominated. In the second set the sixth seed managed to get a break of serve on the top seed service game and found himself with a two set lead. The third set saw the Swiss player mount a comeback and sealed the set 6-3, would the top seed get back into the match.
The fourth set saw the challenge of the Swiss player falter as Berdych came out on top taking the set 6-3 and causing the surprise exit of the top seed. The second seed had no problems in his match as he defeated Juan Martin Del Potro from Argentina. Murray was playing Marin Cilic another Croatian, After a slow start in which the third seed dropped serve and lost the set 3-6, the Brit came back to force a second set tiebreak making the score all level. From this point on the Croats will was broken, as Cilic only won two more games with Murray taking the fourth set 6-0.
Semifinals
For the first time in the tournament the second seed found a bit of trouble in the form of the fourth seed David Ferrer, the Spaniard raced out to a great lead after taking the set 6-2. It was the only set the fourth seed won as the second seed then moved up a gear to take the remaining sets for the loss of only seven games. With a storm brewing the second semi final took to the court. Berdych and Murray were going toe to toe in the first set until the Czech finally obtained a break of serve to take the set 7-5. The Brit stepped up a gear in the next two sets and lost only three games to find himself with a two set lead. The fourth set was a very tense affair which finally ended in a tiebreak, which in itself was close, but the third seed came out on top 9-7, to find himself in another Grand Slam final.
The final
Would this be the final that Murray would win? After losing his first four finals the Brit badly needed to win this one. The first four games saw four breaks of serve as neither player could hold serve. The sixth game produced a 54 shot rally, the longest of the match with Djokovic coming out on top. The first set went to a tiebreak which was to become the longest in a men's singles match lasting 24 minutes, there were two 30 plus shot rallies in the tiebreak and the Brit needed six set points before claiming the set 12-10.
The third seed continued the momentum in the second set and was soon up 4-0 and served for the set at 5-2 before the second seed won the next three games to level the set at 5-5. The Brit held his serve to put the pressure back on the Serb, and Murray broke serve to take the set 7-5. The third set proved to be the shortest of the final as the second seed broke the Brit twice to seal the set 6-2, the fourth set also went the way of the Serb as he again broke the Brit serve to take the set 6-3 and level the final at two sets all.
The final game
After the match was level, Murray left the court for a toilet break. At the time no one knew what transpired in that small room, all would be revealed later by Murray himself. When the Brit returned to the court, they resumed the match. The Brit came out playing inspired tennis, all his shots were landing exactly where they were intended. The third seed soon built up a lead in the fifth set and was serving for the title at 5-2. Could the Serb come back again just like in set two? The Brit was serving well and secured three championship points, the Serb saved the first but was unable to save the next as his return went long. Murray sank to his knees as the reality stuck he had won his first Grand Slam.
When asked about the toilet break at the end of the fourth set, Murray admitted that he had given himself a good talking to: "I looked in the mirror and said to myself, 'For one set, just give it everything you’ve got. You don’t want to come off this court with any regrets. Don’t get too down on yourself. Just try and fight."