US Open - Murray reflects on positives

Eurosport - Tue, 09 Sep 13:11:00 2008

Andy Murray had plenty to smile about after his rousing run at the US Open came to a shuddering halt with a 6-2 7-5 6-2 loss to Roger Federer in the final.

TENNIS Andy Murray of Great Britain sits alone after losing the US Open 2008 - 0

The sixth-seeded Briton had shocked Spanish world number one Rafael Nadal in four sets in the previous round to reach his first Grand Slam final at the age of 21.

"I'm disappointed right now and I wish I could have done a few things better and given myself a few more opportunities," Murray said.

"But tomorrow or after a few days, whenever it sort of sinks in, it's obviously been a very good couple of weeks. I'll try my best to work on my game, work harder and hopefully come back and do better next time."

Murray, who had been bidding to become the first British man to win a Grand Slam since Fred Perry won the US title in 1936, was especially pleased with his fitness levels during the tournament.

"That was the most important thing for me over the whole two weeks," said the Scot, who increased the intensity of his training at the end of last season to improve his all-round strength and agility.

"Physically I was good, even against Nadal. I had a long match with (Juan Martin) Del Potro (in the quarter-finals) as well and I also had a lot of tough matches.

"Physically for seven matches I was pretty good. I can still get better but that's something that in the past might not necessarily have been the case. For me, it's a nice feeling to know that you can last."

Murray had one day less than second seed Federer to prepare for the championship match since his semi-final against Nadal was spread over more than 24 hours after being interrupted by the remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna.

However, the Scot refused to make any excuses for his relatively flat performance against the Swiss maestro on Monday, especially in the opening set.

"Ideally I would have preferred to be in his position but I don't think that was really the reason why he won the match," said Murray, who had beaten Federer in their previous two encounters.

"If he played like that and I was absolutely fresh, I'm sure it still would have been a very tough one for me to win.

"He made very few mistakes today. The times I played him before, he had given me a few free points. I also served pretty poorly today," added the Briton, who won only 51 percent of points on his first serve.

"The time I played him before, he didn't have any break points the whole match against me. Today I missed a lot of first serves and he was able to dictate the points on my second serve."

Overall, Murray has been delighted with his 2008 campaign. He has won three ATP titles, all of them on hardcourt surfaces, with a win-loss record of 41-14.

"I've been getting consistently better this year," said Murray, the third British male to reach a grand slam final since tennis turned profession in 1968, after John Lloyd at the 1977 Australian Open and Greg Rusedski at the 1997 US Open.

"Each month I've been making improvements and my results have got better. My rankings been moving up steadily and obviously this is my first big grand slam. And I won Cincinnati, which was my first very big tournament.

"A lot of things have gotten much better but these are the tournaments that I think all tennis players really, really want to win. I didn't do it tonight and I'm going to have to work very hard to do it some day."

Murray, winner of the US Open junior title in 2004, will rise to a career-high fourth when the world rankings are issued later this week.

Reuters

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  1. Hey, I'm an open minded girl from UK, I'm­­ interested in exotic things, photography, dating and­­ sports...I have my photos on --- T a l l h u b Co m­­ ---, I love tall guys!
    Do you love traveling and have­­ some experience? Just find me out.

    From mollyro05, on Thu 12 Mar 6:40PM

  2. whats up with all these anti-scottish english people on­ this page its immature, who give a flyin @#$% if­ someone lives over a border!

    From Lewis, on Mon 15 Sep 10:31PM

  3. MURRAY YOU WONT GET THE GILLETE ADVERT,1ST YOU HAVE TO­ HAVE STUBBLE TO SHAVE,2ND THERE ALL WINNERS,IN ADVERT­ 3RD YOU HAVE THE LOOKS AND PERSONALITY OF A TURD

    From CARL, on Thu 11 Sep 6:54AM

  4. DONT THINK MURRAY IS SHOWING US HIS BICEPS,HE IS­ GETTING HIS VIENS UP FOR HIS NEXT HIT,CLEAN UP MAN ,GET­ A SENCE OF HUNOUR,ANYONE THINK YOU LOST;O;YOU DID HA­ HA,HE IS THE ONE WHO IS ANTI ENGLISH SO EXCEPT, OUR­ FEELINGS FOR YOU AS A SCOT TXXXXX YOU LOST HA HA

    From CARL, on Thu 11 Sep 6:39AM

  5. Winning once but feeling invincible in tennis when you­ are BEATEN MANY TIMES in a year by someone is plain­ ARROGANCE. You might feel invincible IF you've­ beaten also many times the one who beat you, not the­ others. Such an airy mindset, worse than any player in­ other sport! True color of a real champion truly shows­ when he/she wins a lot and loses sometimes.

    From Jimmy G, on Thu 11 Sep 2:17AM

  6. In my opinion Andy Murray is the most entertaining­ player to watch since Johnny Mac and the most exciting­ British player in any sport today!

    From Nicholas, on Wed 10 Sep 10:41PM

  7. Andy - Brilliant stuff well done!!!!Getting better and­ better. By the way I am English and I don't support­ our current crop of over paid fotballers in our­ national team. Thanks for the passion, the grit and­ energy yopu put into your game.

    From davidwilson1968, on Wed 10 Sep 7:37PM

  8. Dear Andy,
    Now that you are aspiring to win Grand Slams­ which displays your skills on-court, please take a look­ at your skills off-court, namely,
    - look like a budding­ champ.... dress like a champ....decent haircut and­ clean-shaven.....
    - talk and do smile from time to­ time.....
    If you think this advice is impertinent, take­ a leaf from your tennis hero, Roger Federer, who always­ presents himself clean and immaculate, smiling and­ articulate....never talking down to friend or foe­ !

    Good luck Andy.

    From Big "H", on Wed 10 Sep 7:28PM

  9. Willfret *43

    Oh dear dear me. You can't even­ string a coherent sentence together. Must be that poor­ Scots diet of deep fried mars bars affecting yur wee­ scots grey matter! Can't say I understood much of­ youer junkie ramblings...but let me furnish you with­ the results of a recent survey. 73% of the English­ surveyed on whether Scotland should leave the Union­ voted Yes. Same survey directed towards the Scots and­ only 29% said they favoured an independent Scotland.­ What do you read into that? Methinks you need us rather­ than we need or want you. You suck the exchequer dry­ with all your whining demands and we'd be better­ off and more prosperous without you.

    From nick&julia f, on Wed 10 Sep 5:51PM

  10. Murray should stop tinkering where he failed in the­ finals. Next time before every final, get a quick­ haircut and shave, have enough rest, and importantly­ shut your mouth that you'll win prior to the­ game.

    For Fed, winning once but feeling invincible in­ tennis when you are beaten many times in a year by­ someone is plain ARROGANCE.

    From Jimmy G, on Wed 10 Sep 2:42PM

  11. Vive Scotish Murray! Just wonder when an english will­ have a title in tennis :)

    From rookie, on Wed 10 Sep 8:39AM

  12. Andy Murray played well but:
    he needs to get his stuff­ ironed
    he needs a shave
    he needs a haircut!

    From patricktimpert, on Wed 10 Sep 7:54AM

  13. Andy Murray has plenty to smile about - the over rated,­ over hyped, no grand slam wonder- was not beaten 6-0,­ 6-0, 6-0.
    He has plenty to smile about.
    And eurosport­ has plenty to whine about.

    From aaditya, on Wed 10 Sep 7:08AM

  14. Beating Nadal was ONE exception so let's not get­ carried away. Andy Murray will not be a champion­ because he does nto show the talent of a champion, but­ probably a runner-up. Many players reached a grand slam­ final before just to never do it again. He is playing­ above his capacity and he has no room to improve.­ Let's face it!!

    From Half A Brain, on Wed 10 Sep 2:31AM

  15. Ryan 37 *

    Shake hands with you mate, it's aboot­ tennis but I just canna stand all this anti-Scot stuff,­ being insulted all the time.

    AGAIN:

    Great perfomance­ Roger, you played your best tennis yesterday.­ Congratulations.
    Well done Andrew! From now on I'll­ call ye Andrew ... ye are growing up fella!
    A brave guy­ ye are and this is just the start!
    Saor Alba

    From willflet, on Wed 10 Sep 12:33AM

  16. @#$%&Dulia * 35

    ha! leave the alcohol and get some­ education ye swingers, I know ye.

    Don`t worry, as I­ said we wont stay in uk, we'll leave uk­ alone.

    Just imagine... a two cloured british flag!­ nice mates, nice indeed.

    uk needs of Scotland to be­ something like uk.

    Don't miss the Scots... the­ great piece of chocolate cake will be over soon.

    A two­ coloured flag! funny stuff indeed! what will become of­ uk?

    A two coloured quennie jubilee? sad landscape­ indeed.

    Uk is praying the Scots to stay... if not..­

    Any good reply?

    Saor Alba

    From willflet, on Wed 10 Sep 12:25AM

  17. All these anti-Scot comments set ye all upon TNT Ladies­ & Gent. ye are digin yer own grave.
    Have ye seen­ any 'Well done Andy!'or some from the­ 'British' media?.
    Get some education mates.
    Ye­ need Scotland to stay in uk. Sorry, we wont stay.
    Great­ perfomance Roger, you played your best tennis­ yesterday. Congratulations.
    Well done Andrew! From now­ on I'll call ye Andrew ... ye are growing up­ fella!
    A brave guy ye are and this is just the­ start!
    Saor Alba

    From willflet, on Tue 9 Sep 11:31PM

  18. Scotland enjoys of a good reputation all around the­ world. I won't feed all this cheap Scots vs English­ stuff. stop.

    Just in from work. Wanted to talk aboot­ TENNIS and met the same old stuff.

    Well done Andy, ye­ are at the level mate!

    Proud of you, Proud to be a­ Scot.

    From P M, on Tue 9 Sep 10:42PM

  19. clive willamson u r a @#$% well done andy murray gb no­ 1 for a long time 2 come

    From boilerbill2003, on Tue 9 Sep 9:53PM

  20. of course ryan37 ryan yes
    just there for kids to vent­ their frustrations-- of modern life
    anonymously !! ­ instead of kicking the wife !

    From thomsons34, on Tue 9 Sep 9:32PM
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