• Wimbledon

Murray admits to errors in semi-final defeat

Andy Murray struggled to keep pace with Rafael Nadal © Getty Images

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Andy Murray admitted he may have got his gameplan slightly wrong, after losing to Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals at Wimbledon on Friday.

Murray won the first set against his 25-year-old opponent but was soon left trailing in the Spaniard's wake at the All England Club, eventually losing in four sets 5-7 6-2 6-2 6-4.

The Scot looked in good form in the first set as he prevented Nadal getting so much as a sniff at a break point, but midway through the second set the tide changed and his chance of victory soon slipped away as mistakes began to appear.

Murray believes some of those errors were self-inflicted.

"You can beat him by playing patient. When I've beaten him in the past, at the US Open and the Australian Open, I played a little bit more patient," Murray said. "Today I maybe got the balance a little bit wrong.

"But you need to try to find a way. Each time you play against one of the best players you need to play slightly differently because they're going to change their game against you. You have to make adjustments."

The 24-year-old appeared to be troubled by a hip problem from the very start of the contest, but he refused to use the injury as an excuse for his second semi-final loss to Nadal at SW19 in as many years.

"My hip was sore right at the beginning of the match,'' he said. "After I saw the physio, took a painkiller, it was fine. I hardly felt my hip after that.''

Despite yet another disappointment, Murray believes he is getting closer and closer to a maiden grand slam victory.

"It's tough. But I'm giving it my best shot each time," he said. "I'm trying my hardest. That's all you can do. I'm disappointed.

"But normally, after four or five days, bar Australia in the last couple of years, I've recovered relatively quickly from losing because I'm just trying to get better.

"I feel like I'm playing better tennis than I was last year at this point.''

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