Andy Murray said he had been beaten by the greatest tennis player of all time after his defeat in the US Open final.
I won't stop at 13 titles, warns Federer
Andy Murray said he had been beaten by the greatest tennis player of all time after his defeat in the US Open final.
The British number lost 6-2 7-5 6-2 to five-time champion Roger Federer at Flushing Meadows as the 27-year-old Swiss collected the 13th Grand Slam title of his career.
Murray was playing in his first major final and was bidding to become the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win a Grand Slam.
That dream looked a possibility after his thrilling victory over world number one Rafael Nadal, but it was ruthlessly snuffed out by Federer who won his 34th consecutive match in New York.
Murray said: "I had a great tournament but I came up against in my opinion the best player ever to play the game today. I got the better of him the last two times we played and he definitely set the record straight today.
"I've got a lot of improving to do if I want to win one of these tournaments. I love playing in front of this crowd. I've played three matches on Arthur Ashe (court), and it's been the best time of my life."
Positives
However, the Scot admitted there were plenty of positives for him to take after a tournament that saw him come from two sets down to defeat Jurgen Melzer, outclass number ten seed Stanislas Wawrinka, beat the arguably one of the hottest players in the game in Juan Martin Del Potro and, of course, record a first-ever victory over world number one Rafael Nadal in the semis.
"I have been getting consistently better," Murray continued. "My rankings been moving up steadily and this being my first big Grand Slam a lot of things have gotten much better."
"Each month I have been making improvements. My results have got better. A lot of things have gotten much better but these are the tournaments that I think all tennis players really want to win.
I'll try my best to work on my game, work hard and hopefully come back and do better next time.
"I know that mentally and physically I can get to a Grand Slam now. I hope this will be the start of big things for me but I am going to have to put a lot of work in.
"It was my goal to win the tournament. I played Del Potro and he hadn't lost for however long. I played Nadal the num,ber one player in the world followed by Federer. Right now I am not really expected to win all of those matches.
"Even when I was playing Nadal and I was up a couple of sets and it went overnight. I didn't get too excited about things and just stayed relaxed and that helped."
Murray did acknowledge that his extended match with Nadal was not the ideal preparation for the final - especially with Federer having an extra day off after his quick win over Novak Djokovic.
However, he refused to use it as an excuse for his defeat, admitting he would have struggled to handle a simply superb showing from Federer whatever the circumstances.
"Ideally I would have preferred to be in his position (to have an extra day off) but I don't think that was really the reason why he won the match," he added.
"If he played like that and I was absolutely fresh I'm sure it still would have been a very tough ask for me to win.
"He made very few mistakes. The times I played him before he had given me a few free points.
Served poorly
"I also served pretty poorly today and 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 serve and he was able to dictate the points on my second serve, especially on the end when the wind was blowing in my face.
"He came in quite a lot when I was down at that end and they made the differences."
Federer's fifth consecutive US Open title moved him to within one win of equalling Pete Sampras' record of 14 major titles and he insisted: "One thing's for sure - I'm not going to stop at 13.
Special moment
"It feels great, this is a very special moment in my career. There's been some pretty tough Grand Slams this year finishing in a semi-final and two finals so to take this one home means the world to me.
"But there's a great bunch of guys behind and in front of me like Andy. He's done great the last couple of weeks and I'm sure there's much more of Andy to come in the future as well."
The Swiss added that the win was doubly satisfying as it served to put to bed rumours that he was a spent force, admitting he had endured some tough times following his defeats to Nadal at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
"It does feel sweet and I think it's the key for this season," he added. "I'm quite proud of my achievement.
"It has been a tough summer. The French Open loss was brutal but I got over that one pretty easily.
"I was proud to be part of such a great match (at Wimbledon) but at the same time, it just sort of made me sad not having won that great epic match. I was always dreaming about it and then not winning it.
"I lost quite a few matches I should never have lost and they hurt. I don't think it got to me but I was aware of it.
Annoyed
"I'm a bit disappointed, sometimes a bit annoyed because all sorts of crazy people started writing me and trying to reach me, telling me I need some help mentally or physically.
"People come out of the closet and think they can start helping me now. It's just a pain. For me, this sort of puts them to rest a little bit and calms down the phone at my parents' (house) a little bit, which I'm happy about."
"Getting the fifth US Open, it really means a lot to me. To bounce back straight away after losing the number one ranking, this is the best scenario ever.
"I felt like I was invincible for a while again. That's how you want to finish a tournament.
"I would have been disappointed losing and having three finals and one semi of Slams. You feel like you missed an entire year being so close but yet so far. Semis and finals don't help me a whole lot any more. It's all about the wins and that's why this title is huge.
"This is massive. Really. I'm very, very happy about this Grand Slam. It's a different type of flavour this one to me, no doubt.
"I can definitely go into the rest of the season more relaxed now and then also looking forward with great spirits for next year.
"I know it is going to be difficult to get it (the world number one spot) back, but this was definitely a major step forward for me."
