Murray conquers the final frontier

One of the many famed yellow Wilson tennis balls made for the US Open landed beyond the playing area of the Deco Turf II at the Arthur Ashe stadium of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre off a jaded backhand return hit by Djokovic and it all came true. Britain’s Andy Murray was crowned the 2012 US Open Men’s Singles Champion; more importantly, he was now a Grand Slam Champion. A moment he, his team, his fans and of course the whole of Britain feared would never come. The ghost of Britain’s last Grand Slam champion before Murray’s triumph, which haunted him at least for 4 years, after he lost to Roger Federer at the same stage and at the same venue 4 years ago, will no longer haunt him. There would never be an Inception-style layered dream for Andy Murray about his disappointment of not winning a Grand Slam.

This had to be Murray’s day; had to be his year at the Borough of Queens. Figure this out. Exactly on this day in 1933, Fred Perry, the third seed at the then US Championships; beat the second seed Jack Crawford, the Australian Open Champ. If you flash back to January earlier in the year, Djokovic was indeed the Aussie Open Champ. He was the second seed coming into the US Open. How about this piece of analytics: Novak Djokovic was World No 1 when he won the Australian Open; Rafael Nadal was World No 2 when he won the French Open; Roger Federer was World No 3 when he won the Wimbledon and Andy Murray was the World No 4 going into the US Open. So despite the bookies making the Serb their favourite, Murray was perhaps destined to win this one. Before winning today’s Slam final, Andy Murray had lost his 4 previous Slam finals; a record he shared with someone with whom he’s closely associated with right now; Ivan Lendl and then there was Kim Clijsters who was in that “elite” category. Another strange co-incidence then that all three broke their Grand Slam duck at the US Open. This was almost divine intervention with no Federer, Nadal hovering around in the last 4 stage of a Slam, the first time it had happened since the French Open of 2004.

The triumph was no fluke. Murray was knocking at the door ferociously for around 4 years now, and was more voracious than ever for Grand Slam hardware in 2012. What’s more, he endeared himself to the crowds world over more than ever after putting a valiant fight at the Wimbledon final against a player who was almost playing like God; Roger Federer. Unlike in the previous occasions, after falling in a Slam Final, Andy suffered a loss of form for a prolonged period. This time, he turned the tables on his Wimbledon conqueror on the very same court at the 2012 London Olympics; in annihilating manner. He beat Djokovic in straight sets, in the semis of the same event. More than anything else, it showed the grit, mental fortitude, perseverance and mental fortitude required for a Grand Slam Champion which the Scot had acquired in the company of Lendl.

Even in today’s final, it would have been hard to bet against Novak winning the title once the match went into a fifth set and the momentum firmly in the Serb’s favor. Murray joked in the presentation ceremony after his US Open win about his Coach’s stone faced mannerisms saying “that’s almost a smile”, referring to the obvious delight on Lendl’s face, silently acknowledging the great Czech’s company and his efforts deep down within himself. If anything, Murray is now mentally tougher, with deadlier weapons in the form of a great serve and a deadlier then ever forehand, combined with an already winning shot in the form of a cross court and down the line double fisted forehand.

What was most impressive about Murray’s victory today was the manner in which he held his ground. Murray started the match with a break of serve. Soon, the Serb broke back in vintage fashion. The pair then settled down and traded blow for blow including a 54-stroke rally in the sixth game of the first set. The proceedings took us back to the pair’s epic semi-final in Melbourne at the very start of the year; that ended in a different result. Murray however found a way to clinch the marathon tie-break 12-10. Murray started the second set in emphatic fashion with 2 breaks of serve. Djokovic would go on to level the match at 5-all, recovering both breaks from the Scot, only to find that Murray had upped the ante in final two games to take it 7-5. The third set saw Murray slipping into what Boris Becker calls his neutral gear. The Serb dominated the next set too despite a slight sprint in Murray’s step. However, after coming out rampant with 2 early breaks of serve, surrendering one, then again getting one more to finally hold his ground, Andy would go on to conquer the final frontier. Let us take slight notice of the fact that Djokovic required a trainer at the business end of this set for a groin strain; when Murray was about to serve for the Open. Then again, you may well dismiss this as a tactic to buy some time. The belief he would get from this win would surely guide him to more glory, more major silverware.

Murray officially has joined the Big 3 making them the Big 4 following a Slam triumph. It makes the tennis scenario even more intriguing. What it also means is that except an injured Nadal, the other three, Federer and Djokovic included, have a mathematical chance to bring in Christmas as the world’s No.1 player. At this moment, however, the Serb holds an advantage owing to the 52-week rolling system followed by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The Slam season ends for 2012. When we get started again, somewhere in the 3^rd week of January at the peak of the Aussie summer, it would be love-all. The turn of events this extended summer, however, might just mean, it could be Advantage Murray. Can he win more? Well, this question can be answered later. For now, tennis fans take solace in the fact that the crème de la crème of tennis just got richer.