Press Association

I'll be back, says defeated Murray

British hopes for a home-grown Wimbledon champion have been crushed after Andy Murray crashed out of the tournament.

But the British number one vowed to come back stronger next year and said he had a good chance of winning the men's singles title in the future.

In a tough-fought semi-final battle, Murray lost out to fast-serving Andy Roddick 6-4 4-6 7-6 7-6.

The 26-year-old American dropped to his knees as he won the match before appearing to mouth "I'm sorry" to the crowd.

After the game, Murray said: "I'll move on very very quickly and go and work on my game and improve and come back stronger.

"That's a pathetic attitude to have if you lose one match and you go away and let it ruin your year. I've had a very good year so far. I'm very close to the top of the game."

He was already eyeing the US Open in five weeks' time which he said was his "best chance" of winning a Grand Slam event. Asked if he could win Wimbledon, he said: "I think I have a chance and I think the way I played this year was very close to getting to the final.

"I did better than I ever had before. I had some very good matches and I thought I played good tennis. I thought I dealt with everything that was put in front of me well. I'll come back next year and try and do better."

The victorious Roddick said: "He had all the pressure on him and I could come out and swing and that probably helped me today. Let's make no mistake, he has been a much better player than I have over the past year, I was just a little bit better today."

In Sunday's final, Roddick will play Swiss maestro Roger Federer, who earlier showed sublime form in beating German Tommy Haas 7-6-7-5 6-3.