Andy Murray captured his first ever Grand Slam on Monday night, defeating Novak Djokovic, 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 to win the 2012 U.S. Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium. After a heartbreaking loss at Wimbledon, Murray responded with a strong tournament in Flushing, N.Y., to become the first British male to win a major in 76 years.
Murray won the first set, 7-5, including 12-10 in the tiebreaker. Both players committed 19 unforced errors during the first set, with Murray holding an advantage in first-serve percentage (68 to 59 percent) and second-serve points won (57 to 37 percent).
The second set was also tightly contested, with Murray winning, 7-5. The two players were close on first-serve percentage, with Djokovic holding a slight 74 to 71 percent advantage. The major difference in the second set was on unforced errors, with Djokovic committing 19 to Muray's nine.
Djokovic cut into Murray's lead with a 6-2 win in the third set. After committing 19 unforced errors in both the first and second sets, Djokovic committed just six in the third set. He also won 54 percent of his second serve points, a major improvement over the 37 and 22 percent he won in the first two sets.
The No. 2 and defending champ then evened things up in the fourth set, getting the break and capturing a 6-3 set win. Djokovic converted three aces and blasted 13 winners as he found that remarkable reserve of energy to force the fifth and decisive set.
But Murray would quickly respond and break Djokovick in the first game of the fifth set, reclaiming the momentum. The young Scot quickly went up 3-0 and swung the crowd in his favor as he took a commanding advantage. But Djokovic was undeterred, quickly taking the next two games to get back in it.
At 4-2, Murray got his third break of the fifth set when Djokovic started experiencing some leg issues while on serve. He kept stretching out in between every point and got some medical treatment during the change-over. Murray would then clean it up in the final game, holding serve to take the fifth set as the match nearly hit the five-hour mark.
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