Murray swallows second major disappointment with Wimbledon defeat

Jul 2, 2010, 19:12 GMT

London - Andy Murray was heading out of Britain to decompress after swallowing his second major disappointment of the tennis season through a loss to Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon semi- finals Friday.

Five months after losing the Australian Open final to Roger Federer, the hope of the nation was drilled out at the All England club by Nadal 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 in two-and-a-quarter hours.

His hopes of a first Grand Slam title again denied, Murray could think of nothing more inviting than leaving the country. He said he would likely head for a holiday - perhaps North America - before fronting up eventually at his training base in Miami later in the month to prepare for summer hardcourt battle in August.

'There's a lot much pressure playing here. But that's not a valid excuse to make,' said Murray. 'I've played really well the whole tournament.

'I obviously want to win for myself, I want to win for the guys I work with. I want to win for the UK. It's a bit more disappointing than other Grand Slams because this one is the biggest one of the year for me.

'It's tough.

'I'll probably, yeah, go on holiday and stay away from the tennis court for a while,' said the Scot.

The loss leaves Britain without a men's Wimbledon winner in 75 years by the time of the 2011 edition.

Murray admitted that given his poor form over the spring in the wake of his loss in Melbourne to Federer, 'no one would have given me much of a hope of getting to the semis because I wasn't playing well.

'Then I played a good tournament. Right now I'm very disappointed at the match today. I'll look back at the tournament as a whole in a few weeks as a good one, just not great.'

But there is a bright side - even for the gutted player. 'Every year I've played here the support's been great, I'm disappointed for them, as well,' he said.

'I want to try and win the tournament. I couldn't quite do it. But the support I've had the whole two weeks has been great.'