US Open Tennis 2012: 5 Keys to Andy Murray's Victory over Novak Djokovic

The 2012 U.S. Open tennis event ended in historic fashion, with Andy Murray becoming the first British man to win a Grand Slam singles tournament since Fred Perry in 1936, a victory that should stand above all as a testament to the Scotsman's dedication to his craft and sheer will to succeed in a brutally unforgiving era.

For Murray, locking horns with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in Grand Slam events has been a bit like a chess master trying his luck against Deep Blue.

Whether on clay, grass or hard court, that trio of tennis terminators have barely left a scrap for anyone else, even managing to shut out a player as technically and athletically gifted as Murray.

Until now.

Here are my five keys to Murray's wind-swept, 7-6 (12-10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Djokovic in the final of the 2012 U.S. Open tennis tournament.

Wind: The Great Equalizer

Djokovic is a slightly superior tennis player to Murray.

He is every bit the defensive wizard, and he also moves forward into the court and routinely terminates points with one-two combinations with his serve and forehand or backhand or one-two-three combos with a finishing volley or overhead.

Murray's transition game, on the other hand, is his weakest link.

As powerfully as he serves, he simply is not comfortable pouncing on short balls and ending points at the net. He will do it once in a while, although it can seem like pulling teeth to get him away from the baseline.

On Monday, however, Djokovic struggled to get his offensive game in gear in the first two sets due to the blustery conditions.

In the first set, he had no rhythm with his ground strokes or serve, throwing away his opening service game with baseline errors and the fifth game with double faults.

Through the first six games, Novak also was a very uncharacteristic 2-of-7 on net approaches, according to the U.S. Open's official match stats. He improved sharply as the set wore on, but that early sloppiness allowed Murray to sneak away with the first set.

Novak's start to the second set was even more atrocious, as he seemed completely flustered with the wind and fell behind 4-0 due to a barrage of unforced errors.

That allowed Murray to play his favorite role of human backboard and be successful without exiting his comfort zone.

Though Novak rallied in the second set, the wind caused him to make a critical overhead error at 5-6, 15-30, and then a forehand mistake on set point.

The wind also played a key role in Murray's victory because it took away some of Djokovic's aggressiveness on the return of serve.

The world's No. 2 mercilessly attacked Murray's second serve in a tight victory over the Scot at the 2012 Australian Open, but on Monday such a tactic would've been too risky.

Court Positioning

Djokovic was less precise with his attacking game than usual due to the challenging conditions, but Murray also helped his cause by not ceding territory to his opponent.

Murray spent most of the match hugging the baseline and employing lots of slice backhands and abbreviated-swing forehands with the wind at his back and taking bigger cuts on the opposite side.

But, crucially, he didn't play passively or move backward, and that put him in position to do some damage with his outstanding backhand and improved forehand—a shot that's been a pet project for Murray's current coach, three-time U.S. Open champ Ivan Lendl.

Djokovic was still the aggressor overall, but Murray held his own and won his share of points with offense, a tactic that forced the Serb to expend valuable energy tracking balls down sideline to sideline.

Although he still has a lot of room for improvement in terms of transitioning to the net, Murray would not have won his first Grand Slam title—after four losses in finals—if he had not made strides with his court positioning and offensive mindset.

Serve

When Murray first came on the ATP World Tour, his serve was powerful but notoriously erratic, and it was not uncommon for him to put fewer than 50 percent of his first serves in play for an entire match.

That's changed in recent years, however, and on Monday the Brit made a highly respectable 65 percent of his first serves, even higher than Djokovic's 62 percent (according to the U.S. Open's official match stats).

Murray hit only five aces and won just 62 percent of his first serve points, but those numbers are a bit deceiving, considering Djokovic's phenomenal return game.

Suffice it to say, he would not be a Grand Slam champion had his serve not won him several critical points, especially late in the first and second sets.

Experience/Confidence

Excelling in these big moments has not come naturally to Murray, but, like Lendl, his dogged determination to become a champion paid off handsomely, first at the London Olympics and now at the 2012 U.S. Open tennis tournament.

Murray had been in many similar situations, and his comfort level was apparent from the outset.

Most impressive for me was his ability to weather the storms of Monday's match—blowing set points in the first set, squandering a 4-0 lead in the second, seeing a two-set advantage erased—against a fiery, intimidating competitor like Djokovic.

Perhaps taking the gold medal last month over Federer gave him some all-important confidence. And maybe it was slightly easier to win a Grand Slam event other than Wimbledon.

Fitness/Scheduling

There is no better conditioned player in men's tennis than Murray, and that's as big a reason as any why he emerged victorious at the 2012 U.S. Open tennis event.

That said, he's not physically stronger than the ultra-fit  Djokovic, who has been the king of wars of attrition in recent years, even outlasting Nadal in the 2011 U.S. Open and 2012 Australian Open finals.

But, of the two players, Djokovic was the player with no day of rest after the semifinals.

While Murray clinched victory over Tomas Berdych Saturday afternoon, Djokovic had to play most of his semifinal match against David Ferrer on Sunday and then endure a nearly five-hour final 24 hours later.

His lack of legs in the fifth set was a direct result of that misfortune.

Interestingly, had Federer not lost to Berdych, the Federer-Murray match probably would've been the marquee, second semifinal (although, with all the scheduling favoritism for the Swiss, you never know) and Djokovic would've finished his semifinal on Saturday and then relished a rest day.

Murray, as fit as he is, could've been the one running on fumes in the final set.

Certainly, Djokovic has many reasons to rue this loss, and I don't have the slightest doubt he'll be back on top of the tennis world soon, probably in Australia.

As for Murray, who will move past the injured Nadal to No. 3 in the ATP rankings with this triumph, he's unlikely to parlay his first U.S. Open title into world domination as Lendl did in the mid-'80s.

But for now, let's break out the Scotch and raise a toast to the man from Dunblane.

I know my ancestors must be celebrating somewhere.

Think I'll skip the haggis, though.