Distraught Murray vows to come back stronger

Andy Murray vowed to come back stronger than ever after a heartbreaking four-set Wimbledon final defeat against Roger Federer left the distraught Scot crying tears of frustration on Centre Court.

Murray had hoped to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, but his dreams were dashed as Federer recovered from a slow start to claim the seventh All England Club title of his magnificent career.

It was a devastating blow for Murray, who has played some of the best tennis of his life over the last two weeks but is now on a miserable run of four defeats in his four Grand Slam final appearances.

The 25-year-old, who broke down in tears during an emotional on-court interview immediately after the match, was still understandably sombre when he fulfilled his media commitments after briefly returning to the locker room.

But, despite his obvious angst at falling short in his home Grand Slam, the world number four believes the way he took the fight to Federer in the first two sets proves he has the game to eventually win one of the four majors.

Best effort

“I’d say that’s the best I’ve played in a slam final. I created chances and went up a set. Even the last two sets, I still had chances,” said Murray.

“It wasn’t like I gave away bad games or stupid games. I played a good match and made pretty good decisions for the most part, so I’m happy with that.

“It’s not an easy tournament for British players in many ways, but I think I dealt with all of the extra things away from the tournament pretty well, better than maybe I had done in the past.

“It was my first time in a Wimbledon final. I’d never been there before. I’m still improving, still playing better tennis, which is all I can do.”

Murray is widely regarded as the best player of his generation never to have won a Grand Slam and he has been especially unfortunate to come up against Federer in three of his major finals.

Losing to the 17-time Grand Slam winner doesn’t make it any easier for Murray to stomach, but he conceded he could have few complaints about the result.

“Every loss has been different. This was pretty hard because you’re playing in front of a crowd like that and your whole family has come to watch,” he said.

“But he played very, very well in the last two sets especially. When the roof closed he played unbelievable tennis.

“Was it my best chance? I don’t know, really. I lost to a guy that’s now won this tournament seven times and is number one in the world.

“So if that’s your best chance, then...

“We’re talking about one of the greatest athletes of all time here. We’ve got to put it in context a little bit.”