Andy Murray in action at the US Open in New York on Monday

“An incredible talent” and “a big match player” was how Roger Federer described Andy Murray following his US Open final straight sets win against the British No. 1.

As for himself, he thought he was “invincible” again, well, almost. Never one to be accused of false modesty, the Swiss always says it how it is. “I played great,” he said. “I felt I was invincible for a while again, and that’s exactly how you want to finish a tournament, I guess.”

Few men alive know more about Grand Slam tennis than the second most successful player in Grand Slam history and he explained that it was a learning experience and hinted that emotionally it may have been just a little too much for the 21-year-old at this stage of his career. He thought he would be the wiser for his two weeks here in New York.

“He knows now what it takes to get very far into a Grand Slam,” Federer said. “I think it’s something that’s unusual. Once you get to the semis or finals, you’re celebrating your first quarters, celebrating first semis and first final. It takes a toll on you emotionally, as well, because all of a sudden there’s all the attention you ever wanted, but what you really want to do is focus on getting the title.

“I think by putting yourself in those types of positions, giving yourself opportunities, he’ll only get bigger. I always thought he was a big match player. Give him the biggest court in the world, he will have no problem handling it. That’s what he’s shown anyway throughout his career.”

Asked if he could explain his game plan against the Scot, he replied: “I’m not going to say things here because I need to keep beating the guy for many years to come. But I think he’s improved a lot the last year or so. He had a tough draw at the Australian Open, actually which would have put himself in an even better position for this year, but he drew [Jo-Wilfried] Tsonga first round, and that sort of kept him under the radar for a little bit.

“But I think winning Cincinnati and doing so well here again and doing also I think well at Wimbledon I think he’s really picked his game up. He’s got many different opportunities to play any player. That’s what makes him dangerous.

“He’s got the good slice, he can come to net, he can stay back, he can stay very far back. So he’s got three different options, and not many players have that out there. For this reason you need to adapt a little bit on how he plays you.”

Win or lose it’s always difficult to gauge Murray’s mood after a match, but it’s probably fair to say that he was more disappointed with his performance in the final than pleased about how he had played over the whole fortnight. In the next few days that will no doubt change.

“I wish I could have done a few things better, and given myself a few more opportunities, but, I’m sure tomorrow after a few days, whenever it sort of sinks in, it’s obviously been a very good couple of weeks. And I’ll try my best to work on my game, work harder, and hopefully come back and do better next time.”