Andy Murray admitted that even with a confidence-boosting Olympic gold medal, he was nagged by doubts ahead of his US Open final triumph on Monday after having lost four prior Grand Slam finals.

“The Olympics was huge for me. It was the biggest week of my life,” Murray said.

“But still, when I was sitting in the locker room beforehand, there were doubts.

“You are still thinking, ‘If I lose this one, no one has ever lost their first five finals’. I just didn’t really want to be that person.”

Murray is not that person. And as a result, a 76-year Grand Slam title drought for British men since Fred Perry’s 1936 US championships was forever consigned to the scrap heap of tennis history.

Murray defeated defending champion Novak Djokovic 7-6 (12/10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 in blustery conditions at Arthur Ashe Stadium to claim his first Grand Slam title.

“It was a struggle for both of us to deal with the conditions. At times we made a lot of unforced errors. At times we played some great points. I congratulate him because he came up with big serves when he needed to,” Djokovic said.

Djokovic had a five-setter win streak of eight in a row snapped by Murray, who had not gone such a distance since losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals earlier this year.

Murray battled through two tense sets, then watched his hard work unravel as Djokovic fought back to take the third and fourth sets in relatively short order.

“Even though I was two sets down I still believed I could come back to the match,” Djokovic said.

“I played really well third and fourth. A little bit slow start of the fifth and cost me the victory.

“The beginning of the fifth set was the turning point. Was crucial. I should have not lost the two breaks in a row. After that, it was really tough to come back.”

But while Djokovic wanted it, Murray needed it, especially after going two-sets ahead.

“It was the thing just to try to keep going for my shots, not leave anything out there on the court, because you know how hard Grand Slams are to come by and how hard you need to work to give yourself a chance to win them.

“You don’t want to step off the court not doing yourself justice. I felt maybe in Australia a couple of years ago when I played Novak in the final there I didn’t necessarily do that and that hurt me a lot.

“If I had lost this one it would have hurt a lot, but I would have known I would have tried my best and given it 110 per cent.”

And now, Murray will have even more confidence to face the future.

“I hope it doesn’t change me as a person. That would be a bad thing,” Murray said.

“I think on the court, hopefully, if I get into situations like this in the future I won’t be having all the doubts that I was having before the match.

“I’ll maybe just be a little more confident than I was before this tournament.”

Past 15 US Open men’s champions

2012 - Andy Murray (Britain)
2011 - Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
2010 - Rafael Nadal (Spain)
2009 - Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina)
2008 - Roger Federer
2007 - Roger Federer
2006 - Roger Federer
2005 - Roger Federer
2004 - Roger Federer (Switzerland)
2003 - Andy Roddick (United States)
2002 - Pete Sampras (United States)
2001 - Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)
2000 - Marat Safin (Russia)
1999 - Andre Agassi (United States)
1998 - Patrick Rafter (Australia)

Murray vs Djokovic

Men’s final statistics

Match duration: Four hours, 54 minutes.