Murray was the first British man to reach a major final sinceGreg Rusedski at the1997 US Open, and was attempting to become the first British man to win a singles major sinceFred Perry in 1936[2] (he would eventually achieve the featfour years later).
Gilles Muller became the first Luxembourgish player to reach a major quarterfinal.
This wasJuan Martín del Potro's first major appearance as a seeded player. He lost in the quarterfinals against Murray to end a 23-match winning streak. He would win the titlethe following year. Anotherfuture champion,Marin Čilić, appeared in the main draw of the US Open for the first time.