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Magic Murray

ESPN staff
September 10, 2012

In a whirl
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic stepped on court to scenes similar to Saturday, with the wind howling round Arthur Ashe Stadium. It was clear from the first point that it was going to play a part, as Djokovic had to delay his initial serve by a towel that blew off a chair.

Loving the lob
Murray has superbly creative hands, which enables him to play a range of shots at will. He showed off his silky touch in the fourth game to play a terrific lob. Djokovic advanced to the net in behind a good approach that landed close to the baseline, but Murray took it in his stride playing a half-volley lob over his opponent's shoulder that forced him to net a tough backhand smash.

Concrete is stronger than graphite
After surrendering his serve for a second time, a frustrated Djokoivc trudged back to the net and threw his racket away in disgust. It bounced off his chair and landed at his feet, which prompted the world No. 2 to finish the job by cracking it into the concrete.

Going long
The final witnessed the longest rally of the tournament by four shots, as Murray and Djokovic played chess in the wind. Djokovic showed tremendous defensive skills and it eventually drew an error from Murray who threw a backhand wide of the sideline on the 54th shot.

A costly smash
Djokovic bounced back from being 4-0 down in the second set to get within one game of forcing a second tiebreak. He had a point at his mercy, but somehow threw a smash wide and a couple of points later he sent a forehand into the same tramline to hand Murray the second set.

Slice and dice
Murray delved deep into his repertoire of shots in the fourth set when producing a backhand slice that defied belief. Stood on the baseline in the middle of the court, Murray cut under the ball with such venom that the ball barely crossed the net while spinning sideways at pace. Djokovic for a moment thought he had a play on the ball, but it kept turning sideways, hit the sideline and span away.

Believe it Andy, it's real
Andy Murray broke the resolve of Djokovic in the fifth set. When on the brink of victory at 5-2, thoughts turned to what sort of celebration we would see. When Djokovic threw a shot over the baseline what we got was a look of total disbelief. There was no crazy dancing or whooping and hollering. It was a quiet moment of contemplation.

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