The losses of both del Potro and Safina were a result of a combination of stellar play from their opponents and fatigue on the part of the losers.

Del Potro led Murray 7-6, 6-5 before taking a medical time out for a sore shoulder. But afterwards the Argentine, who had defeated Rafael Nadal of Spain in the quarterfinals and Andy Roddick of the USA in the semifinals, would win only one additional game.

“Before the match I felt like I was probably going to be physically stronger,” Murray said. “He was obviously tired (in the third set) and I made a lot of returns which I hadn't really been doing. His serve slowed down a little bit and I made more returns. I served well at the beginning of the third set to make sure I stayed ahead, and that was the only difference.”

In a battle of the only two WTA Tour players to ever top the world rankings and not win a grand slam, the former world number one Jankovic mixed steady play with forceful winners, committing only nine unforced errors to take the first set.

The Serb then raced to a 3-0 second set lead before closing out the win for her second WTA Tour title of the year. But in a less than impressive season, yesterday's final was also only the second of the year for Jankovic.

“My smile is back and I'm having fun playing the matches,” she said. “This is what I missed. I missed this for maybe seven months this year.”

In the 2008 US Open finals, Murray lost the the world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland while Jankovic finished second to the second ranked Serena Williams of the USA.

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