Andy Murray winning the US Open is part of Sky Sports 25 years of memories
Wednesday 20 April 2016 08:10, UK
Sky Sports is celebrating its 25th birthday and as part of events we are looking back at some of the most memorable moments from the last quarter of a century, including Andy Murray's stunning US Open success in 2012.
Murray ended one of British sport's longest waits to emerge from the shadow of the great Fred Perry and become Britain's first Grand Slam winner in 76 years after a gladiatorial battle against Novak Djokovic.
It was a spellbinding 7-6 7-5 2-6 3-6 6-2 victory over the world No 1 that took four hours and 54 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium and in front of celebrity spectators including Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Sean Connery.
After failing on four previous attempts to capture a major, Murray went into the contest against a man who had the best record on hard courts and a superior head-to-head record.
It was a marathon first set at 87 minutes that featured the longest tie-break a US Open final has ever witnessed as Murray edged Djokovic 12-10.
Despite a fightback from Djokovic, who went from being four games down to levelling it at 5-5, Murray sealed the second set 7-5.
As you would expect from a five-time major winner, Djokovic fought back and captured the third set 6-2 then restored parity by taking the fourth.
Then came a career-defining bathroom break by Murray as he took a time-out before a deciding-set shootout. That helped him refocus and "leave the court with no regrets".
The Dunblane dynamo came out and showed incredible resilience to break the Serb three times before sealing a remarkable victory.
When Djokovic smashed a return long on championship point, the crowd rose to their feet to recognise Britain's history-maker.
