Andy Murray conceded his humiliating exit from the ATP Tour Finals was a suitably downbeat way to end one of the most difficult years of his career.
Murray’s hopes of salvaging a frustrating campaign by winning the prestigious season-ending event for the first time were shattered as Roger Federer thrashed him 6-0 6-1 – the equal-worst defeat of his career.
The 27-year-old’s second loss from his three group matches condemned him to a premature exit from London’s O2 Arena and ended an 11-month tale of woe.
Only once before, against Novak Djokovic in Miami in 2007, had Murray taken such a beating and, then, he was not 100 per cent fit.
Murray refused to play the blame game on Thursday after being blown away in 56 minutes.
“It’s very disappointing. I would have hoped to have done a lot better but, when he’s extremely loose like he was tonight, he was able to try some shots he might not in other situations. Everything he tried came off. He has the ability to do that.
“It’s quite clear I’m quite a long way from that level. I won’t be able to tell you if it’s affected my confidence until I start the new year. But it’s not a nice way to finish the year.
“I know I’m going to have to put a lot of work on the tennis court, a lot of work on my game, if I want to start the season with an opportunity to win in Australia.”
Murray had battled an extra-long recovery from back surgery, split with coach Ivan Lendl, then hired former women’s No.1 Amelie Mauresmo, lost his Wimbledon title and briefly fell out of the top 10 for the first time in six years.
Even after winning three late, low-key tournaments to reach the Tour Finals, he still finished the year without beating Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic.
“The first three or four months were hard. Going through surgery isn’t easy. Maybe I didn’t appreciate that so much at the time.
“Obviously in the middle of that period, I switched coaches and stopped working with Ivan. It was a difficult time.
“I had a couple of tough losses at the French Open and Wimbledon when I didn’t play well. Tonight is another example of that.
“Mixed in with those matches was some good tennis. The last six weeks were good but, yeah, it’s been a hard year.”
The pain of Federer’s thrashing on home ground will linger throughout the off-season. Murray, who failed to reach a grand slam final this year, made it clear he was determined to use that angst to fuel his bid to return to peak form.
