I don't know what to say. I am totally exhausted, and so, so relieved! When he passed up on the Championship points I thought he was done for, that Djokovic would take over.

If FD thinks it was a low-quality match I'm surprised. It may not have been outstanding in pure tennis terms, but in terms of tension, and determination from both players, it is very high in my opinion.

Andy Murray won his first Masters Series title beating Novak Djokovic 7-6(4) 7-6(5) in Cincinnati. Five match points came and went before Andy's fierce first serve got a short reply and he stepped up the court to fire a double-handed backhand down the line for a winner.

Murray appeared to have wasted his opportunity when he failed to serve out the match at 5-3. Struggling to cope with the situation, he twice double faulted before saving a break point with an unreturned first serve. There followed four match points but each time it was Djokovic that came up with the bold tennis while Andy could barely manage to hit the ball in court, as the nerves got to him.

The match started with both players holding comfortably. Murray's first serve percentage was low but Novak found it difficult to return Andy's kicked second serve and was unable to put pressure on the Murray serve at any point in the opening set. Djokovic came through a couple of long service games, saving a break point in each. Murray's return of a second serve was aggressive but he chose to go into rally mode rather than press the opening and missed out when a backhand clipped the net and fell wide. Novak saved the second break point with a pass following an inspired drop shot.

With neither player anywhere near their best, the points tended to end with a careless error. Djokovic's forehand was desperately poor while Murray's safety first approach still produced far too many loose shots, often at key moments on the Djokovic serve.

Murray surged to a 6-2 advantage in the opening set tiebreak with a couple of fine shots of his own but largely due to four unforced errors from an out of sorts Djokovic. Two set points came and went before Novak's wild backhand over the baseline gifted Andy the first set.

The second set came to life when Novak found himself with two break points thanks to a couple of shocking groundstrokes from Andy. Murray responded with a winning forehand pass after a drop shot then a forehand down the line for a winner but opted to challenge a service call and seemed to lose his focus as he then proceeded to hand Novak the break with a wild forehand long then a backhand over the baseline.

In a match of little quality the following game with the score at 1-2 was the clear low point. Djokovic double faulted twice to present Murray with an opening. Andy gave away the next two points with awful errors only for Novak to strike a couple of routine backhands into the net to give back the advantage.

Serving at 3-4 Novak's drop shot failed to make it over the net. He then volleyed long under little pressure and could only watch as Murray's forehand pass brought up two break points. Djokovic seemed in control of the point but his smash was a weak effort and Murray's desperate high defensive lob landed just inside the court, unsettling Novak who failed to get himself in position and netted his confused attempt at a smash.

Murray merely needed to serve out the match but the occasion got to him and he was somewhat fortunate that the serb twice double faulted in the second set tiebreak. To his credit, Murray did come up with a couple of inspired shots; his backhand crosscourt after an extraordinary rally, being the highlight of another error filled tiebreak.

Overall the standard of tennis was not what you might have expected given the form of the two respective players coming into the final. Murray's safety first approach produced 16 winners but 43 errors, while the more ambitious Djokovic fired 31 winners with 54 unforced errors. Andy's returning was generally good but his first serve failed to deliver. For much of the match his second serve troubled Djokovic winning him 61% of the points but it let him down badly in the games in which he was broken.

So a breakthrough win for Andy; hopefully he will deal with the situation better in the future.

(if you don't like it, don't put on Britishtennis.net - I don't have a problem with that. But I'm not going to write that Andy played well when he quite clearly didn't)

-- Edited by kundalini at 23:38, 2008-08-03

-- Edited by kundalini at 23:49, 2008-08-03

-- Edited by kundalini at 00:04, 2008-08-04

Well a Win is a Win and that will give Andy a massive boost in several directions !

Well done Andy !

Excuse me beginning to get slightly irritated on what should be a great night.

But after reading FD's earlier comments about ( just ) Murray seeming to choke. I have now read his main page report. 

Murray evidently serves "dreadful double faults" and can't take the pressure.  Djokovic merely serves ( more ) "double faults"  and no mention of not taking the pressure.

I'm sorry to see Kundalini joining in a bit with the spendid line "Murray merely neede to serve out the match, but the occasion got to him and he was sonewhat fortunate that the serb twice double-faulted in the second set tiebreak"   Some might say that Djokovic was lucky that Murray twice double-faulted at 6-5, but then the occasion got to Djokovic in the tiebreak at the end.  But that would be a rather strange line to take I think.

The fact is it was tense, the occasion got to both a bit at vital times, and the less experienced guy in these situations came through at the end.

"A match of little quality"   ?  I really must get my eyes tested.   At times, I think there was real quality tennis, though not consistently enough to make a really good match.

I'm all for not going overboard over Andy, and introducing realism, but you two seem on accasion to go the other way.

Now FD and Kundalini, I'm off for a drink and when I'm half-way down my first drink, the glass will stiill be half-full.  Why do I think yours might be half-empty ?

Anyway, let's all rejoice in Andy's first Masters Series title and hope for many more.

Thankfully, I was watching the same match as Drew, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Many points had wonderful tennis played by both players. And Andy Won!!!!!

Come Onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn