With the current suspension of the ATP and WTA Tours, USOpen.org is reliving some of the biggest tennis matches in the tournament's history in photos. In our latest featured match, we look back at the 2012 US Open men's singles final between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.
Watch a live stream of this classic match on Facebook Live and Twitter on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. The full match will be posted on Sunday on the US Open YouTube Channel.
Andy Murray won an epic final against defending champion Novak Djokovic at the 2012 US Open to become the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 and the first in the Open era to capture a Grand Slam singles title.
Murray, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, won the match, 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2, in four hours, 54 minutes. It was the second-longest US Open men's final in history, tied with the 1988 championship match between Ivan Lendl and Mats Wilander, and the third-longest Slam final in the Open era, only behind the 2012 Australian Open and 2019 Wimbledon finals.
Here's a look back in photos at one of the all-time classic finals in New York.
Murray was one of the hottest players on tour in the summer of 2012, as the then-25-year-old Scot reached the Wimbledon final and won the gold medal at the London Olympic Games prior to coming to New York for the Open.
Defending champion Djokovic reached the semifinals or better at the other three majors in 2012. He won his second straight Australian Open title, reached his first career final at Roland Garros, and advanced to the semifinals at Wimbledon.
Murray, the 2004 US Open boys' champion, beat Milos Raonic, Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych en route to the final.
Djokovic topped Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro and David Ferrer before meeting Murray in the title match.
Before the 2012 championship, Murray and Djokovic had played 14 times in their careers, with Djokovic leading their matchups, 8-6.
The Serb, ranked No. 2 in the world, had won 27 straight Grand Slam hard-court matches heading into the final.
The two players, born a week apart in May 1987, played a 26-minute, first-set tiebreak that featured several long rallies, including one lasting 54 groundstrokes. Murray won the breaker, 12-10, and held off a tenacious Djokovic in the second set to take a two-sets-to-love lead.
Djokovic raised his level of play and took the next two sets to level the match.
Murray quickly took the lead in the fifth set, breaking twice in the first three games to move ahead 3-0, and then held on to claim the championship.
It was the Scot's 100th career match won at a Grand Slam tournament.
Djokovic congratulates Murray following the match.
Murray celebrates at the trophy presentation ceremony.
Murray lost his first four Grand Slam finals to share an Open era record with his then-coach Ivan Lendl, and like the Czech, he triumphed on the fifth try.
"Relief is probably the best word I would use to describe how I'm feeling just now," Murray told the media after winning the championship. "You do think: Is it ever going to happen?"
