Andy Murray has vowed to use the lessons of his Wimbledon thrashing by Rafael Nadal to fuel his bid to become one of the world's top players.

Murray's hopes of ending Britain's 72-year wait for a men's singles champion at Wimbledon were shattered as Nadal hammered the Scot 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in Wednesday's quarter-final.

The 12th seed could have excused for licking his wounds for a while after being pounded by the French Open champion.

But Murray is adamant that the Centre Court defeat had done him a favour because it outlined the areas he still needs to improve heading into his favourite part of the schedule on the hardcourts of America.

"I have to view it as a good thing, to see that I can improve so many things in my game. It's up to me to make sure I go and do that," Murray said.

"I have to look at my game, work on some things and try to get up to that level, which I do think is possible. It's just going to take a lot of hard work."

Murray was determined to take the positives from a campaign that produced the best win of his life as he came back from two sets down to beat Richard Gasquet in the fourth round, a success that cemented his previously fragile relationship with the British public.

"I've got to try and be positive about the whole two weeks. The match against Gasquet is obviously one of the best matches I've ever played and I had three solid matches before that against good players," he said.

"It's been a positive tournament for me. I got further than my ranking and seeding suggested.

"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."

Although Wimbledon will always be one of Murray's main goals, he believes the US Open represents his best chance of winning a Grand Slam because the hard courts of Flushing Meadows suit his game better than grass.

"I think here and the US Open are my two best opportunities. On the grass, there's fewer guys that play well than on the hard courts. But I do feel more comfortable playing on the American hard courts," he said.

"I've had some of my best results on those courts. I've got a chance at winning Wimbledon. But the US Open's always been the one that I felt was best suited to my game.

"I'm planning on playing Indianapolis, Toronto and Cincinnati. I might go over to the States for a few days beforehand to get used to the weather conditions over there."

AFP