Dry those tears, Scottish friend

As you read this, Andy Murray will be sitting in the corner of a dark hotel room weeping loudly into a pillow. This was supposed to be his time, damn it! It had all looked so… doable. Federer was, they said, dwindling, and Murray had just thumped the brilliant Nadal. But no, Federer proved that he really is the best of his generation, and his debonair line in sports casual was far superior to Murray’s misfiring Mod look.

But before you write Murray off as just another rubbish Brit all set to let us down year after year, have a quick glimpse at the stats. Only four US Open finalists in the last forty years have failed to win a Grand Slam trophy during their career - Miloslav Mecir (1986), Cedric Pioline (1993), Greg Rusedski (1997), Mark Philippoussis (1998).

See, it’s not all bad. Plus he’s Scottish anyway, right?