Murray happy with Masters Cup performance despite defeat
Sunday, 16 Nov 2008 10:49
Murray was satisfied with his performance in Shanghai
Andy Murray says he is pleased with his performance in this year's Masters Cup despite losing in the semi-finals to Nikolay Davydenko.
Murray was beaten 7-5 6-2 by the Russian but had previously beaten Andy Roddick, Gilles Simon and Roger Federer.
The match with Federer lasted more than three hours and gave the Scot little time to recover and prepare for his semi-final with Davydenko.
Murray admitted he had felt more tired during the match with Davydenko than during his other matches in Shanghai but felt the Russian had prevailed because he had played very well.
He said: "I'm not sure too many guys would have hit 33 winners against me in a match this year. So he obviously played great, and I wasn't getting the balls that I usually do. I don't think it was through me playing too defensively. I gave everything that I had."
Murray had already qualified for the semi-finals before his match with Federer but insisted he had no regrets about putting as much effort into that match as he had – even if it affect his performance against Davydenko.
The 21-year-old said: "I beat probably the best player of all time. I have no regrets about doing that. Like I said yesterday, to beat him means a similar amount to winning a tournament like this. Ideally I would have liked to have beaten him easier and given myself a slightly better chance to prepare for [the Davydenko] match."
Murray says it is difficult to win the tournament when you opponent has a rest day and you do not but felt that if other players had managed it in the past then he could also achieve it in the future.
"I was just very happy with the way I played in the matches that I could have done. I think it's doable," the Scot added.