The always sky-high hopes of the British public were put to rest for yet another year at Wimbledon.
Andy Murray, who has succeeded Tim Henman as the country's top player, lost to Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal match Wednesday at the All England Club.
"I got further than my ranking and seeding suggested," said Murray, who is ranked 11th but was seeded 12th. "I'm going to be back in the top 10 at the end of this week, which is something that I felt like I was good enough to do, and now I've got to try and stay there."
Henman made the semifinals at Wimbledon four times but could never reach the final. He played his last match at Wimbledon last year, but Murray took over the mantle as the country's best hope for title when he reached the third round in 2005, losing to former finalist David Nalbandian in five sets despite winning the first two.
"I need to make sure that when I'm playing against the top guys that I can dictate more of the rallies right at the start," Murray said. "When I make a big first serve, really be aggressive from the first ball, rather than waiting a couple of shots."
The last British man to win the singles title at Wimbledon was Fred Perry, who claimed his third straight championship in 1936. The last British woman to win the singles titles was Virginia Wade in 1977.
But Murray's run to this year's quarterfinals was special. In the fourth round, he trailed 5-4 in the third set after losing the first two but rallied to beat ninth-ranked Richard Gasquet in five.
"I've got to try and be positive about the whole two weeks," Murray said. "The match against Gasquet is obviously one of the best matches I've ever played in. Three solid matches before that against good players."
Nadal, who has reached the last two Wimbledon finals, said Murray must have been a bit worn out from Monday's match against Gasquet.
"Probably he felt a little bit tired," Nadal said. "It's always tough in the Grand Slams when you are playing tough matches like match against Gasquet. That's normal."
Murray wasn't making any excuses, however.
"I felt like I'd recovered well. I didn't feel like my legs were all that heavy," Murray said. "But, I obviously would have rather gone into the match having won an easier match against Gasquet, but that had absolutely no bearing on the result at all."
Nadal, who has won four straight French Open titles, lost to five-time defending champion Roger Federer in last two Wimbledon finals. He will face either Rainer Schuettler or Arnaud Clement in the semifinals.
