Exclusive: Andy Murray vows to rise again after Wimbledon final agony

The British No1 was left in tears after his defeat by Roger Federer but with the Olympics and US Open round the corner, he won’t allow himself to wallow in self-pity
Andy Murray
Chris Jones9 July 2012

Andy Murray insists he has not been mentally scarred by his Wimbledon Final defeat and is aiming for Olympic glory and a first Grand Slam title at the US Open.

However, after the 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 loss to Roger Federer, the British No1 admitted he would be “stupid” to continue practising, so is taking a break to ensure he is in perfect shape for the major challenges over the next couple of months.

By coming within a couple of break points of clinching a two-set lead before the rain saw the Centre Court roof closed to provide Federer with the indoor arena he loves, Murray is convinced the gap between himself and the top three — Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal — is closer than ever.

This was Murray’s fourth Grand Slam final loss and it is up to coach Ivan Lendl to make sure the mental aspects of the defeat do not undermine his chances at the Olympics and the US Open, which starts at the end of next month. Equally importantly, his trainers and physiotherapist will take care of the bumps, bruises — and Murray’s ongoing back ailment.

Murray exposed the depth of the emotional effects of this defeat when he broke down in tears making a speech to the Centre Court crowd but is taking a sensible approach to his upcoming commitments.

The 25-year-old said: “You have to be intelligent and I must make sure I take the right amount of time off because it would be stupid to go back on court — my mind and body are not in the right place at the moment.

“I must take the right amount of rest to make sure I am good to go for the Olympics and the US Open. My body will need to be in good shape. I’ve got bruises all over my body because I fell over a lot of times.”

Despite the agony of losing all four Grand Slam finals he has appeared in, Murray believes he is getting closer.

“I didn’t believe there was a gap between me and the top three players. The only place people should be judging me is at the Grand Slams, not the other tournaments. That is where I need to play best — not at the Masters series and other tour tournaments.

“I performed well in Australia in January and lost a tough one in the semi-final against Novak Djokovic and felt I have been improving in recent months despite the back injury. The other guys are also improving but there isn’t that much of a gap between us now.”

Murray will take comfort from pushing, arguably, the greatest player in history so hard and producing some of his best tennis in a Grand Slam final. That had not been the case in the three previous attempts, where he had failed to win a set.

He said: “That is the best I’ve played in a Grand Slam final, this was my first Wimbledon Final and I am still improving — which is all I can do. I created chances, went up a set and it was a long match. Even the last two sets, I still had chances and the game where I got broken in the third set was a very, very long game. I had a lot of game points. It wasn’t like I gave away bad games or stupid games. I made good decisions for the most part, so I’m happy with that.”

While Britain continues to wait for a first men’s Grand Slam singles champion since Fred Perry in 1936, Federer took his haul of major titles to 17. His seventh Wimbledon crown saw him match Pete Sampras’s record for the Championships and also enabled him to regain his No1 ranking from Djokovic.

The Swiss had words of comfort for Murray. He said: “I believe deep down Andy will win Grand Slams — not just one. He got another step closer and he will win one soon.”

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