Local favourite Andy Murray fails to reach Wimbledon final

Posted 07 4 2009 8:53PM

LONDON - With an often boisterous crowd fully behind Andy Murray, it was the man in front of him that kept the third-ranked Scot from becoming the first British man to reach the Wimbledon final in 71 years.

Murray didn't play poorly in his 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7) loss to American Andy Roddick, far from it. He even gave the thousands of fans on Centre Court plenty to scream and cheer about throughout the match. But when it came to the few points that mattered the most, Roddick was the one who stepped up.

"I had a few chances in the first tiebreak. I had chances early in the third set," said Murray, who had been 6-2 against Roddick before the match. "I didn't take them."

Both players were solid on serve, and Murray had the better numbers on paper with more aces and winners than Roddick, and fewer unforced errors.

"It just came down to a few points here or there on his serve," Murray said. "And he served really, really well."

Murray played the match under a huge amount of pressure. He entered Centre Court trying to become the first British player to reach the Wimbledon men's final since Bunny Austin in 1938. The last British man to win the title was Fred Perry in 1936, and if Murray could have beaten Roddick, he likely would have played Roger Federer in Sunday's final with Queen Elizabeth in the crowd.

"I put obviously pressure on myself to play well. I don't think there was any sort of moments where I felt too tight to sort of go for shots," Murray said. "I maybe made a couple of mistakes that I shouldn't have in the first tiebreak."

But to get into that tiebreak, Murray had to bounce back from a 5-2 deficit. He held to get to 5-3, and then broke Roddick to get back on serve. Murray then even held a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker.

"I think, like I said, I played well," said Murray, who reached the U.S. Open final last year but lost to Federer. "Unfortunately, the last few slams that I've lost I've come up against some guys that have played great, great tennis."

Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open and reached the Wimbledon final in 2004 and '05, losing to Federer both times.

Heading into this particular match on Centre Court, however, Roddick was facing more than just Murray.

"I knew going in that getting all hyped up ..., especially in an atmosphere that probably wasn't going to be super favourable to me, wasn't probably the way to go," Roddick said. "And especially he was probably going to have the edge as far as, kind of, the adrenaline and the emotion.

"So I kind of just wanted to stay the course. I was fully aware that there might be ups and downs," Roddick added. "I just wanted to kind of keep the same face regardless."

Murray did get cheers throughout the match, but the fans really grew loud when Murray mounted his third-set comeback.

"Obviously, when it gets to the big points, the important sort of moments in the match, it's great to have the support," Murray said. "They were excellent the whole tournament with me. Hopefully I'll have the same support again next year."

Before the next Wimbledon tournament, though, Murray will soon return to New York, the scene of his one and only Grand Slam final to date.

"I'll move on very, very quickly and go and work on my game and improve and come back stronger," Murray said. "I've had a very good year so far. I'm very close to the top of the game. The U.S. Open, I've always said is my best surface, my best chance to win a slam, and I'll give it my best shot there."