Andy Murray Beats Novak Djokovic for U.S. Open Title Andy Murray fended off a late rally by Novak Djokovic to win his first Grand Slam and become the first man from Britain to win a Grand Slam title since 1936. As he stood on the verge of history, three games from becoming the first British man to win a Grand Slam tournament since 1936, Andy Murray scowled. His expression matched the windy weather for this United States Open finals on Monday night, the nearly five hours that it lasted and the weight of seven decades of expectations placed on Murray the minute his career began. Murray complained of rubbery legs. Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, kept coming, his shoes squeaking, until after 306 points, each man had won exactly half. Murray stared down fatigue and history and wind and doubt, elevating his game to a place it had never been before. When the match ended, after Djokovic's return sailed long, Murray covered his face with this hands, his wild 7-6 (10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 triumph complete. Djokovic met Murray near midcourt. They hugged. Murray walked from their embrace in a daze, with one hand or both hands covering his mouth. It was as if he could not believe what happened, as if the emotions were too fresh, too raw. The crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium rose and roared for Murray, the perennial loser turned sentimental favorite turned, finally, into a Grand Slam winner. It was past 2 a.m. in Scotland, Murray's home country, where surely the celebration raged, bagpipes playing well into the night. "I don't know how I came through in the end," Murray said in a television interview on court. I just managed to get through. Murray, the latest, greatest hope of a nation had known the statistics as well as anyone. He knew the length of the drought and his own failure in four previous Grand Slam finals, including Wimbledon earlier this summer. He knew his coach, Ivan Lendl, also lost his first four major championship finals and still ended up with eight Slam singles trophies. Murray had provided his homeland with an emphatic exclamation point in his magical summer: runner-up at Wimbledon, Olympic gold medalist and now United States Open champion. "I want to congratulate Andy for his first Grand Slam," Djokovic said during the postmatch ceremony. He absolutely deserves it. The match, the first major tournament final without Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal since Djokovic and Murray played for the Australian Open championship in 2011, pitted old rivals, both 25 born a week apart. They first played each other at 11. Djokovic said Murray won that first contest. Djokovic triumphed in their first two Grand Slam tournaments. Murray, though, emerged victorious in their most recent meeting, in the semifinals of the Olympics, a tournament Murray ultimately won. Even though he led their personal rivalry, 8-6, Djokovic said of their latest meeting, "There is no clear favorite." At the outset, on another wind-whipped afternoon in Queens, one that felt more like British Open weather, the conditions appeared to favor Murray. After all, he played the semifinals Saturday against Tomas Berdych under the most extreme conditions 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 finals, the wind again a factor, neither player found rhythm early. In fact, for the first five games, whichever player hit with the wind at his back lost. One rally consisted of 54 shots, many of them sliced back or pushed over the net. The first set tiebreaker unfolded the same way the match did, unpredictably, back and forth, up and down. Murray trailed initially, only to scratch his way ahead, and he managed not only one set point but six. Each set point proved its own adventure. On one, Murray short-armed a backhand approach shot into the net. On another, he badly shanked a forehand. On the final one, he seemed displeased with a let call, then unleashed a furious serve that Djokovic failed to return. The first set lasted nearly 90 minutes. Murray won the set, 7-6, and the tiebreaker, 12-10. That seemed to rattle Djokovic, who started the second set with a flurry of unforced errors that prompted several conversations - with himself. Murray broke Djokovic in the first game and broke him again in the third and before Djokovic could blink, Murray led, 4-0.