ANDY MURRAY last night insisted he will put everything into achieving his one remaining goal - winning a Grand Slam title.

The Scot’s heroic run to the US Open Final ended in a comprehensive straightsets defeat to Roger Federer.

But Murray knows how far he has come and how close he is to triumphing in one of tennis’ big four.

The 21-year-old arrived in New York as a young star with the potential to win the biggest prizes in the sport but leaves as a seasoned campaigner.

Murray said: "I was effectively three sets away from winning a Grand Slam which is much closer than I was at this time last year and I’ve worked very hard to get to this stage.

"Winning a Slam is really the only goal I have left for myself. I’m going to have work harder, improve my game and get physically stronger if I’m going to do that.

"I think I’ll definitely take the way I dealt with things this week into future Grand Slam tournaments.

"You have to be boring for a few weeks just to be professional. You do all the right things, take all the other elements out of the game and focus on tennis."

Murray coped impressively with the hype surrounding his two weeks in the Big Apple.

No matter how many milestones he hit - reaching his first semi-final and final at this level and beating Rafael Nadal for the first time - he didn’t take his eye off the ball.

Murray said: "You can get let it get to you and you can definitely get involved in all the stuff that surrounds doing well in a big tournament.

"But I’ve not turned my computer on at all since I’ve been here and I’ve just got a new phone so not too many people have my number.

"I’ve kind of been a bit shielded from it all but I’m sure when I get back home I’ll have a better understanding of everything and what it means." Murray already understands what he has to do to win a Grand Slam - and knows there is much to be done.

He has moved up to No.4 in the world rankings but only the top will do for Murray now and to get there he has to win the big titles.

Murray has proved to himself and his rivals that he has the mental and physical stamina to take on the world’s best over the course of seven best-of-five-set matches in two weeks.

He said: "It’s my game and my physique that I’m going to work on most. If you get too caught up in the rankings you lose focus on your training.

"The most important thing is that if you put in the work off the court and in training the results will come and the points will take care of themselves. I’ll just try to stay focused off the court.

"I think it will come with age and maturity and understanding your game and understanding how to play against the best players.

"I got killed by Novak Djokovic quite a few times and it’s only been recently I’ve understood how to play against him and figured out how to beat the top guys.

"This year I’ve beaten Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, Nikolay Davydenko and Stanislas Wawrinka a few times and those guys are all in the top 10. I guess I just need to do it in the big tournaments now and this was the first time I’ve done it."

The disappointment of losing the final will take time to subside but Murray has loved every minute of his time in Flushing Meadows.

As well as taking personal and professional pride in his achievements, he has also relished being the toast of New York for two weeks.

Murray said: "To play in front of a 23,000 crowd like that - it was packed out there - against Federer and be three sets away from winning a US Open is a good effort at my age.

"But I don’t want to be remembered for losing in the final. I want to win one of these tournaments and I’m going to try my hardest to do it.

"I think beating Nadal in the semi-final was probably the biggest achievement for me. It was such a big match and with what happened with the rain and being down in the fourth set as well. I think that was mentally huge for me.

"In the past, I might not have come back from going behind in the fourth set but this time I did it. I played aggressively and took the ball on and did what I had to do to win."

Murray takes home a cheque for Û1million - Û750,000 for reaching the final plus a Û250,000 bonus for finishing second in the US Open Series, the run of events that lead up to New York.

Girlfriend Kim Sears may have a few ideas on how to spend the cash but Murray isn’t planning to paint the town red. He said: "I’m sure Kim will have a few things in mind. I’m sure I’ll end up doing something with it but I’ll try to make a sound investment with it, hopefully."

So, after the best fortnight of his career, what’s next for Murray? He said: "I’ll go back and see my dog - or rather me and my girlfriend’s dog. I’ve been away for three weeks now so I’ll go and walk the dog."

It may sound a bit boring but as Murray has learned over the last couple of weeks, if something needs to be done then he is going to do it.

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