Britain's Andy Murray lost the final of the Thailand Open to Roger Federer
but, at just 18, he proved he has the right to compete against the best in the
world.
The Scot lost 6-3 7-5 however, he can be encouraged by a performance which saw
him break the world number one in the second set.
For Federer it was his 24th final and his 31st straight victory but for Murray
it was a step closer entry to the game's elite.
Federer served first and Murray's first point in an ATP final went against him
as he hit a forehand a few centimetres too long.
The Swiss closed out the first game without dropping a point before breaking
his 18-year-old opponent at the first opportunity.
There had already been a few signs of uncertainty from Murray as the Scot
pulled into the net before being beaten by a passing shot which allowed Federer
to draw level at deuce.
A terrific rally ended with a forehand cross court pass from Federer to set up
a break point which Murray gave away with two faults.
The world number one gave Murray little cause for hope as he took a 3-0 lead
but the teenager then held his serve to win his first game, drawing a rare
unforced error from Federer's forehand.
And there were signs Murray was finding some weaknesses in his opponent's game
as he took the 24-year-old to deuce but, even allowing for some wild strokes,
Federer still looked comfortable as he moved 4-1 ahead.
Frustration looked to be creeping into Murray's play as he hit a long careless
lob to hand the Swiss a 30-0 lead.
The Scot clawed back to deuce then saved two break points, the second with a
perfectly-weighted drop volley, before taking the game with a fierce ace.
Federer was made to work hard for a 5-2 lead as, having been taken to deuce,
he needed three opportunities to win the game.
Murray met little resistance as he cut Federer's lead to 5-3 only for the
Swiss to win the first set with a forehand volley.
The chances of an upset were disappearing fast as three unforced errors
allowed Federer to take the second of two break points in the first game of the
second set.
The Swiss won the next game in comfort before Murray roared back to cut the
deficit to 2-1.
However, Federer was playing within himself as he re-established his two-game
advantage.
Murray appeared to be tiring quickly but he saved a break point before keeping
himself in the match by drawing an error from his opponent who sent his backhand
long.
The Scot then drew the biggest roar so far from the crowd as he broke Federer
before holding serve to take a set lead for the first time in the match.
That only served to awaken a more aggressive Federer who won the next game
without dropping a point and took the battle to his opponent by charging into
the net at the first opportunity on the Murray serve.
Murray threw his racket to the ground as Federer set up a break point which
was saved when the Swiss sent his lob fractionally too far.
The Scot saved another break point then an ace set up the advantage which he
converted with a cross-court forehand to which Federer could only just get his
racket.
At 5-5, the next game went Federer's way and two more errors from Murray gave
his opponent two break points but he only needed one to earn a chance to serve
for the match.
However, Murray continued to fight, taking a 30-0 lead against the Federer
serve and set up a break point at 40-30 before the Swiss claimed a 6-3 7-5 win.
Murray said afterwards: "I feel good, I played a pretty solid match. I maybe
could have returned a little bit better in the first set but it was always going
to be tough.
"It's quite intimidating playing a player like Roger who's one of the
greatest ever, you don't get the chance to see players like him much nowadays so
I was a little bit nervous at the start but once I got going I was okay.
"I was 40-15 on my first service game but I played a few loose points. That
might have settled me down a bit but once I got my first game I started playing
okay.
"The support all week has been very good, even in the match against Paradorn
(Srichaphan) yesterday they were really appreciating my good play as well as
his. It's been a really good tournament and thanks to everyone for supporting
me."
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