No regrets from tired Murray

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:09

The British number one failed to match the heights of Friday’s thrilling epic win over Roger Federer which eliminated the two-time defending champion, losing 7-5 6-2 to the Russian world number five.

Murray understandably lacked his usual flair after his exploits against Federer and said: “I beat probably the best player of all time, I have no regrets about doing that. To beat him means a similar amount to winning a tournament like this.”

He added: “Ideally I would have liked to have beaten him easier and given myself a slightly better chance to prepare for this match. But I don’t like losing, so I’m not going to.

“I’m proud that I gave 110%. I think other players might not have taken that option, but I’m happy that I did.”

The defeat brought to an end a breakthrough year for Murray in which he rose from 11th in the world to fourth with two Masters Series wins in Cincinnati and Madrid and his maiden grand slam final appearance at the US Open.

“I don’t want to try to make excuses. He played much better than me,” he added.

“In the circumstances, naturally I was going to be tired. I did the best that I could with what I had. I just felt a little bit tired.

“He’s a tough guy to play against if you’re not feeling like you can chase every ball down.

“He doesn’t miss a whole lot. He takes the ball so early. I thought he played really, really well, and I couldn’t get much going because he was making me do a lot of running.”

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