Not even glorious failure but Murray's fans remain upbeat

SO once again the early morning start, the anticipation and the shredded nerves were all for nothing as Andy Murray's latest Grand Slam bid ended as so many Scottish sporting stories seem to end - in failure.

This time, though, it was not even particularly glorious failure.

Murray crashed to a straight sets defeat against Novak Djokovic in yesterday's Australian Open final, disappointing tennis fans who watched the match in tennis clubs and pubs across the Capital.

The 23-year-old is the first player to fail to win a single set in three Grand Slam finals and, following the defeat, Murray even hinted he may take a break from the sport.

But those who witnessed the defeat on screens at Craiglockhart Tennis and Sports Centre, where the British number one was previously coached by mum Judy and won his first Scottish junior title, remained upbeat and insisted his day will come.

Raymond Barnes, 62, who lives in Oxgangs and watched the match at the Craiglockhart centre, said: "I think if Murray gets his first Grand Slam win, he will win many more. He just needs that first one. He is a great player, the best British player we've had for decades."

Kenny Elliot, 51, who lives in Longstone and is a big Murray fan, also watched the match at the centre.

He said: "It didn't go too well but he showed fighting spirit in the third set.

"I had hoped that he would maybe finally get a Grand Slam and, even when he was one down, I thought he might have come back like he did in the semi-final."

Richard Green, duty manager of Craiglockhart Tennis and Sports Centre, added that Murray "did Scotland proud".

Millions of people were expected to watch the match, which took place in Melbourne, on television after 6.3 million tuned in to last year's Australian Open to watch Murray lose to Roger Federer.

David Marshall, chief Executive officer of Edinburgh-based Tennis Scotland, said: "I think the first set was a fantastic set of tennis. Unfortunately, Andy just came up a bit short.

"That was probably a defining set in the sense that, after that, he really was fighting a rearguard action and Djokovic seemed to get stronger."

Mr Marshall added: "One thing that's good about Andy is that he takes the big defeats on board. Where something has been identified as a weakness, he will go away, work hard and come back even stronger. Andy has got the potential to do better than he did in the final.

"He's a young guy and a great athlete, and I think he will get many more opportunities to get the Grand Slam win we're all rooting for."