Dejected Murray vows to improve

Andy Murray has vowed to bounce back a stronger player for his shock US Open exit, better equipped to give him the best possible chance of winning a grand slam.

Murray fell short at Flushing Meadows, comprehensively beaten in straight sets by 20-year-old Marin Cilic, the 16th seed from Croatia. He lost 7-5 6-2 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the form that had taken to him five ATP Tour titles in 2009, four of them on hard courts, deserting the Scot at the worst possible time.

"I'm disappointed," Murray said. "I don't know how long or how quickly it will take me to get over it but I played well in the summer. I had a good grass court season. This hasn't been a bad hard court season. Just today was not good."

He added: "So I'm going to be disappointed, but I'll have to go and work on some things.

"I'll go sit down with the guys that I work with and see what went well this whole year and what didn't go so well, and work as hard as I can on it to be ready to win a slam in Australia (in January).

"I think that next year I've got a very, very good chance of doing it.

"I think I'll be a better player next year than this year, and hopefully I'll do that."

Having had so much success so far in 2009, winning titles in Doha, Rotterdam, Miami, Queen's Club and Montreal, Murray refused to let his surprise defeat to Cilic cloud his overall verdict on the campaign to date.

"It's been a very good season. I don't think I could say it's been anything less than that," he said.

"I improved my results at Wimbledon and at the French Open. Here was worse, and the same result in Australia. I equalled my best result in Australia. I guess it's been a good season. It could have been better in the slams, but the rest of the season has gone well."