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Andy Murray insisted that despite winning successive Masters titles, he is still far behind the big three elite of the men’s game.
“I’ve beaten Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, but I’m still a long way behind the top three,” Murray said after muscling to the Madrid Masters title with a 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) title victory over France’s Gilles Simon.
“I’ve played great the past three months,” added the losing US Open finalist to Federer, whom he defeated in the Madrid semis.
“But those guys have been unbelievable the past couple of years. They are so consistent on every surface. They’ve been awesome and I’m not close. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Murray, who has now won four titles this year and clinched the Cincinnati Masters in the summer, said that his weekend win over Federer extracted a big emotional toll.
“After playing Saturday it was tough for me, I was mentally tired,” said the world number four.
“My legs felt a bit heavier today, due in part to the situation I was in. The lactic acid builds up.
“I didn’t come here expecting to win the tournament. I’d practised very well but there is a difference between that and playing well. But now I’m building some more confidence.”
The victory in just over 90 minutes turned on the big serve of the Scot, who fired ten aces and became the first British player to win four ATP titles in the same season.
His Madrid success occured just three months after he won the first Masters shield of his career at Cincinnati. He also claimed the 2008 titles in Doha and Marseille.
Despite living in Spain as a teenager for more than a year Murray had to apologise to the crowd.
“I was here but I never learned proper Spanish. I promise that if I have to stand up here next year, I’ll make the victory speech in Spanish,” he said.
Murray admitted that the 2009 transformation of the indoor event into an outdoor spectacular on clay for men and women, which will be played in the run-up to the French Open in May, might limit his future title chances at a new venue in the city.
“I’m not much of a clay-court player so I’m not sure if I will be up here again,” he confessed. “I will certainly make it my business to try and improve.”
Murray will play next week in St Petersburg in the defence of his 2007 title while Simon said he might rest instead of playing in Lyon, saving his final run for a possible spot in the Masters Cup for the Paris Masters one week later.
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