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 still 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 World No.2 and 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.

Djokovic had a five-setters 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.

"It was obviously a very tough match," Murray said.

"When the conditions have been like they have been, you need to focus so hard on almost every shot because the ball is very hard to control.

"So it was an incredibly tough match and obviously it felt great at the end. Relief is probably the best word I would use to describe how I'm feeling.

"Very happy that I managed to come through because if I had lost this one from two sets up, that would have been a tough one to take."