I Share Your Pain Andy Murray

The wait goes on then.

Andy Murray's defeat to Roger Federer in today's Wimbledon final means that Fred Perry is still the last British man to win a Grand slam all the way back in 1936.

As someone who has followed Murray since he burst on the tennis world as an eighteen year old in 2005, this defeat was the hardest loss to take.

It was heartbreaking to see the Scot breakdown on court after his defeat to the Swiss maestro.

Like many others I couldn't help but share in Murray's tears whilst watching at home.

Murray knew this was a real chance to finally become a Grand Slam champion. And he knows he won't get many better chances.

However, it should be made clear that Murray played absolutely superb and was beaten by the greatest man to ever pick up a tennis racket.

Murray should feel absolutely no shame in that.

In yesterdays blog (http://www.ewansworldofsport.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/legend-v-pretender.html) I tipped Murray to break his Grand Slam duck and beat the six times Wimbledon champion in five sets.

It wasn't to be though as Federer showed his class and experience were well and truly back.

For a while it all looked so good for Murray. He came out the blocks firing and instantly broke his opponent's serve.

Whilst Federer came back strongly, Murray dug deep and broke Federer superbly in the ninth game of the set before going on to take the opening set.

I was ecstatic at this point. In three Grand Slam finals to date Murray had never won a set.

Now he had got over that hurdle at least and as the second set began Murray was well on top.

He had his chances to really take control but Federer showed his quality to save numerous break points.

However when he broke Murray in the 12th game of the set to ultimately take it, it came out of nowhere.

Like the 15,000 fans inside Centre Court, I was completely stunned. A couple of points and suddenly it was a level game.

If there is one person you don't want to hand an opportunity to in a Grand Slam final, then it's Roger Federer.

As the third set began, Murray looked out of sorts and was thankful for the half-hour rain break.

The Swiss man though is the greatest ever indoor player and after the delay looked even more menacing as his ball-striking was out of this world.

Murray just had no answers despite fighting till the very end.

There were a couple of opportunities early in the fourth set but Murray just couldn't make them.

And that's the difference between winning a Grand Slam and not winning one unfortunately.

But let's not hear any allegations of Murray being a 'bottler' today. He was beaten by the better player on the day.

A player that has now won a record equalling seven Wimbledon titles and an incredible 17 Grand Slams in total.

Murray may feel right now that he will never have a greater chance of winning a slam due to Rafa Nadal's early exit and the fact he was facing the supposedly ageing Federer in the final rather than Novak Djokovic.

Federer though proved in his 24th slam final that class truly is permanent and with his trophy, he also returns to the world number one spot.

A remarkable achievement for someone who many had written off including myself.

In 2012, Murray has shown huge signs of improvement under the watchful eye of new coach Ivan Lendl.

Lendl, an eight time Grand Slam champion has instilled a new level of focus in the Scot and has certainly made him more confident in believing he can beat Djokovic, Federer and Nadal in the slams.

Yes, he might not have got over the line yet but his coach Lendl didn't in his first four slam finals.

The brilliant Croatian Goran Ivanisevic took 48 slams to finally win one. Murray has only played 27.

And I believe the Scot will certainly win a slam one day. Maybe.