Andy Murray revealed he felt “unbelievably nervous” and “pretty lonely” before going out on Arthur Ashe for the 2012 US Open final. In 2012, Murray finally made his Grand Slam breakthrough when he defeated Novak Djokovic 7-6 (10) 7- 5 2-6 3-6 6-2 to win his first Major title.
“I remember how I felt before the match. I remember being in the locker room on my own and feeling unbelievably nervous and feeling pretty lonely and kind of feeling a lot of pressure,” Murray recalled, via Tennis365.
“I remember after the match going back on to the court before I left the venue. I just wanted to be out there on my own. I was very proud of myself. I didn’t feel like going wild and celebrating and that sort of stuff.
I just felt quite relaxed and it was just such a big relief to get over that line”.
Murray beat Djokovic for his first Grand Slam title
At the time, Murray was 25 and playing his fifth Grand Slam final. After losing the first four Grand Slam finals of his career, Murray started fearing he may never win a Major.
After beating Djokovic in the 2012 US Open final, Murray felt extremely relieved. “That was a huge moment for me,” Murray said. “I’d been put under a lot of pressure to try and achieve that. A lot of what I ‘d achieved in my career up to that point felt, to me anyway, kind of irrelevant because of the questions I’d continued to get asked about winning slams.
Am I good enough? Am I fit enough? Am I mentally strong enough? Lots and lots of questions over a period of time.” Since then, Murray has appeared in six more Grand Slam finals. Overall, Murray is an 11-time Grand Slam finalist and he has three Major titles in his collection.