Wait off his shoulders

The final score was 7-6 10,7-5,2-6,3-6,6-2. All of Britain,or so it seemed,heaved a sigh of relief. Its mens singles drought,which started when Perry was just a tennis champion and not a name behind a clothing brand,had ended.

The match lasted 4 hours 54 minutes,tying the record for the longest US Open final. In 1988,Mats Wilander and Ivan Lendl,Murrays coach,lasted the same amount. When he served for the match,he said he felt a sense of how big a moment that is in British tennis history.

I know more than most, he added. Ive been asked about it many times.

As he stood on the doorstep,three games from his first Grand Slam title,Murray scowled. His expression matched the wind that made for the most unpredictable of finals and the weight he felt from seven decades worth of hope and despair that rested on his shoulders.

Like jelly

Murray complained,over and over,that his legs felt like jelly,a combination of nerves and fatigue. Djokovic,the defending champion,kept coming,kept sliding,his shoes squeaking,until after 306 points each player had won exactly half.

He stared down all of that,Murray did,fatigue and history and wind and doubt,and he elevated his play when it mattered most. His service break early in the fifth set lobbed some of that pressure back at Djokovic. All that remained was for Murray to hold on.

As he served for the decisive set,one of his offerings clipped the far corner of the service line,a sliver of the edge and nothing more. That seemed like more proof of Murrays moment,his final,his tournament,his summer,one that included a runner-up finish at Wimbledon and an Olympic gold medal.

Later,Murray sat behind the silver championship trophy and tried to explain how it felt to break through. He listed all the challenges he faced in recent days,mostly from the conditions,the wind and the rain and even a tornado warning on Saturday. Then there was the matter of playing in a Grand Slam final. Then there was the fact he had never won one. Then there was Djokovic,a player who had lost one set all tournament.

Well,I proved that I can win the Grand Slams, said Murray,who admitted feeling nervous before the match. I proved that I can last four and a half hours and come out on top against one of the strongest guys physically that tennis had probably seen,especially on this surface.

To summarise his feelings in one word,Murray used relief. Everyones in a bit of shock,to be honest, he said. Im sorry if Im not showing it as you would like.

Lendl is Murrays coach,the only other player in the Open era to fall in his first four Grand Slam singles appearances. When Murray won,as bedlam broke out around him,Lendl hardly cracked a smile,his demeanor icy until the end. Lendl ultimately won eight Grand Slam singles titles,but knew as well as anyone which one proved the hardest to obtain.

So did Djokovic. At the outset,on another wind-whipped afternoon in Queens that felt more like British Open golf weather,the conditions appeared to favor Murray. He played a semifinal Saturday against Tomas Berdych under similar conditions,the most extreme of his career,while Djokovic stumbled in the same wind tunnel against David Ferrer only to regain his footing when play resumed Sunday.

In the first-set tiebreaker,each of Murrays six set points proved its own adventure. On one,he short-armed a backhand approach shot into the net. On another,he shanked a forehand. On the final one,he was displeased with a let call,then unleashed a serve that the Serb couldnt return. The first set lasted nearly 90 minutes. Murray won the tiebreaker,12-10.

That seemed to temporarily rattle Djokovic,who started the second set with a flurry of unforced errors that prompted several conversations 8211; with himself. Murray led,4-0,in what seemed like an instant.

dare to dream

All of Britain began to dream at that point. At least before Murray added to their consternation. Djokovic crept back into the contest,just when his chances seemed most dim. His lob over Murrays head tied the second set at 5-all.

Again,Murray recovered. Again,he pelted Djokovic with a variety of shots,with topspin forehands and sliced backhands,with net charges and drop shots. On set point,Djokovic missed a forehand wide.

Murray did not dare let out too much emotion,even if every person in the building could feel the history within his grasp. In his previous four Grand Slam finals,Murray won one set. Not one set in each match. One set,period. Here,he led two sets to none. A nation held its breath.

In the third set,when Murray seemed on the verge,Djokovic awakened. He won that set and the fourth. Eventually,Murray recovered and won and knelt down,his hands covering his face.