The first came from Geoff Pollard, the president of Tennis Australia, who said: "We've seen today's champion in Roger Federer and we've seen tomorrow's champion in Andy Murray."

Next was by Murray himself. He was gutted and the emotion of the occasion boiled over for the 22-year-old who fought back tears as he was handed the runner-up's trophy.

After having to pause throughout the early part of his speech, Murray finally managed a smile when he said: "I can cry like Roger, it's a shame I can't play like him."

There were no tears from Federer when he got to the stage next, but he felt for his young opponent who he declared would be standing in his place in the very near future.

"You are too good of a player to not win a grand slam, so don't worry about it," Federer said.

This was Murray's second grand slam final and on both occasions he has lost to Federer. By his post-match emotions it was obvious that the Scotsman saw this as a golden opportunity squandered.

Tomorrow he will board a plane home with an extra $1 million bucks in his pocket, an improved ranking to No. 3 and the knowledge that he needs to be patient. 

The problem he's got is that the British public who have adopted him from Scotland don't have patience. They haven't had a tennis player win a major championship since Fred Perry at Wimbledon in 1936.

Unfortunately from the start of the match Murray looked like a man with the weight of a nation of his shoulders.

Murray had tried to convince himself and everyone in the lead-up that having two days off in preparation for the final was ideal.

It gave him the chance to sleep when he wanted, watch a few movies and fit in the occasional hit of tennis at his leisure. 

His theory was that two years ago at the US Open he'd been forced to play three days in a row and was shot by the time he got to the final.

Well, the script didn't go the way he wanted. Murray lost the opening two games of the match and while he did get one break back, he was playing tentative and nervous tennis.

The second set was a wipe-out mainly because of Federer's extraordinary brilliance, but the worrying sign was a leg injury flaring late in the set for Murray.

Maybe it was the trigger because a far more aggressive Murray jumped into the third set, racing to a 5-2 lead. He had everything going for him, the crowd were getting involved and he was finally on track.

Half-an-hour later Murray was in front of the microphone choking back tears. He'd blown it - five set points to be exact - and was lost for words.

"I've got great support back home the last couple of weeks ... sorry I couldn't do it for you tonight," Murray said. 

"I'd like to thank my team and, ah, I'm sorry. I'm done."