Murray's (pictured top) victory was the first grand slam triumph by a British men's tennis player since 1936, when Fred Perry also won the US Open.

The timing was perfect too, coming 24 hours after the Closing Ceremony of the Paralympic Games and the end of London 2012, giving Britain the most thrilling and unexpected of encores.

It was Murray's fifth grand slam final, after two failures in the Australian Open and one each at Wimbledon and the US Open previously.

He had shown signs that he was getting closer to that elusive title, as having been beaten in straight sets in the previous three finals, he finally won a set in the final of a grand slam at Wimbledon against Roger Federer at the start of July.

Although he was beaten by the world number one and 17-time grand slam champion, considered by many the greatest player ever to pick up a racket, Murray got revenge against the Swiss in the final of the Olympic singles tournament when he took gold, also at Wimbledon.

Andy Murray was the first British man to win the Olympic singles gold medal since Josiah Ritchie in 1908

He beat Federer in straight sets in a stunning victory on a day when he also won silver in the mixed doubles alongside Laura Robson.

In the semi-finals of the Olympic singles, Murray showed he had made major strides forward as he beat Djokovic in straight sets, although that match was the best of three rather than five, as is the case in grand slams.

Therefore, in spite of his Olympic heroics, last night was always going to be the biggest test and moment in the career of Murray and the history of British tennis.

Murray started brilliantly, breaking Djokovic to love in the opening game of the night, but immediately ceded the advantage as the serve broke back, with the windy conditions proving tricky for both players.

A remarkable start saw Murray again break Djokovic in the very next game, taking the initiative, but the Serb fought back in the set to take it to a tiebreaker.

It was one of the most remarkable tiebreakers in recent memory too, with neither player more than one "mini-break" ahead throughout, as both put on a majestic display of returning.

It was perhaps no surprise, given that the strengths of both are rooted in their remarkable ability to keep rallies going from seemingly impossible positions, that it took six set points for Murray before he finally took one to win the set 12-10.

Novak Djokovic returns a shot during his US Open men's singles final match against Andy Murray

Psychologically that was a huge moment, with the first set so hard fought, and Djokovic seemed to suffer as he lost four games in a row at the start of the second, being broken twice as Murray dominated base line rallies.

But the five-time grand slam champion showed all his quality as he began moving into the net more and broke Murray twice to level the scores at 5-5.

The Briton himself has impressive powers of recovery too however, and he then broke Djokovic for a third and final time to take the set.

Two sets up and cruising, Murray then suffered as Djokovic stepped up his performance.

The Serb cut out many of the unforced errors that were a prominent feature of the first two sets, and improved his first serve dramatically to cruise to a 6-2 win in the third.

Despite a battling display from Murray, Djokovic was then able to take the fourth set with similar ease as he outclassed the Scot with his aggression and precise volleying – and he was on course to become the first man since Pancho Gonzales to win the US Open from two sets down.

With the momentum against him going into the crucial fifth set, Murray managed to turn things around yet again, in a game where the balance of play swung repeatedly.

It has only really been in the last year that Murray has shown the ability to find something extra and go up another level on the biggest occasions, and he did precisely that as he broke Djokovic in the first game of the final set.

Murray won the next two games to put himself two breaks up and seemingly cruise to victory, but a weak service game let him down and gave the Serb a route back.

However, this time Djokovic could not find anything more, the energy seeming drained from him and movement diminished.

Andy Murray smiles during an interview next to Novak Djokovic before receiving the championship trophy after his victory

Murray broke him once more, winning three games in a row to clinch that elusive slam.

"When I realised I had won, I was a little bit shocked, I was very relieved and I was very emotional," said Murray.

"Novak is so strong, he fights until the end of every match and I don't know how I managed to come through in the end."

Djokovic, who congratulated his opponent, said: "I'm disappointed to lose, but I gave it my all.

"I had a great opponent today.

"He deserved to win this Grand Slam more than anybody, I would like to congratulate him."

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