Britain has traditionally done humour far better than tennis. And so it was with Andy Murray on Rod Laver Arena.

“I can cry like Roger, it’s just a shame I can’t play like him,” quipped Murray, as the weight of a nation’s unfulfilled expectations reduced him to tears following a straight sets loss to Roger Federer.

Masking hurt with humour – and showing a human side to a personality perhaps unfairly portrayed as dour and introverted – is likely to further widen the 22-year-old Scot’s appeal beyond the British converted.

But what Murray wants to do more than anything is bridge the big-match gulf between himself and the ruthless Federer, who has now burned him in two grand slam finals.

“I’m getting closer and I’m playing better. I’m hungry to win one. I have been since I was 16 or 17 years old,” Murray said.

“I’m sure one day it will be (a grand slam win), and maybe because of the two losses it will be even better.”

Murray will refer to several big third set moments he couldn’t capitalise on.

Five set points in a epic tie-break. A regulation forehand into the net at 6-5 up on serve was the worst squandered.

But there was enough life and hunger in Murray’s efforts to suggest that Fred Perry’s 1936 US Open triumph or Virginia Wade’s 1977 Wimbledon win won’t be the nation’s last grand slam victories for long.

And enough hurt in Murray’s tears to suggest no shortage of motivation for his next grand slam final.

“It was the way the match finished, it was a very emotional end to the match,” Murray said.

“If it was a complete blowout, it probably wouldn’t have happened. That’s why I was upset.

“You get a lot of good luck messages from back home and everyone wishing you well … I would have liked to have done it for everyone back home, but it wasn’t to be.”

© AAP 2012

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