Tearful End To Murray's Wimbledon Dream

Andy Murray is licking his wounds and planning some time off from the tennis court after his bid to make history at Wimbledon ended in tears.

The 25-year-old cried after losing 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 in the final to Roger Federer.

Murray was hoping to become the first British man to win the title since Fred Perry in 1936, but instead it was Federer who made history, equalling Pete Sampras' record of seven Wimbledon titles.

The Swiss veteran now has a total of 17 grand slams and has restored his world number one ranking.

Murray struggled to hold back the tears as he thanked his family and the crowd, who had roared to deafening applause throughout the match.

The Scot, who is representing Great Britain in the Olympics in just a few weeks, last night said he does not know how long he plans to take off tennis.

"Until my mind is right," he said. "There's no point in going on the court until I'm ready to go out there and learn and work hard and do the right things in the gym and in practice because there's just no point.

"So I'll wait and see how my body recovers after the next few days.

"I fell a lot of times this tournament. I got a lot of bruises all over my body and stuff.

"So I need to take a few days off, let everything heal, recover, and then see.

"But I won't be on the court next week, that's for sure."

Murray's unusual display of emotion on Centre Court took both fans and detractors by surprise, also reducing girlfriend Kim Sears and mother Judy Murray to tears.

The British number one admitted he was "getting closer" to claiming a grand slam title.

In the emotional interview, he congratulated Federer, joking that he "isn't bad for a 30-year-old".

Murray also paid tribute to his team, as well as the crowd.

Speaking about "Team Murray", he said: "I'm going to try and not look at them because I'll probably start crying again but everyone who is in that corner over there, who has supported me... we did a great job, so thank you.

"And last of all to you guys," he said to the crowd. "Everybody always talks about the pressure of playing at Wimbledon, how difficult it is.

"It's not the people watching, they make it so much easier to play. The support has been incredible."

Murray had started well, taking the first set to rapturous applause.

But despite deafening support from a partisan crowd, he lost the second set, then the third - which was interrupted by rain for the roof to be put on Centre Court, and went on to lose a fourth set.

Federer, whose wife Mirka was watching with their twins Myla Rose and Charlene Riva, praised Murray, saying: "I think he's done so, so well, to be quite honest.

"I really do believe deep down in me he will win grand slams, not just one. I do wish him all the best. This is genuine. He works extremely hard. He's as professional as you can be."