Andy Murray was upbeat reflecting on his thrilling contest with Rafael Nadal at the ATP World Finals.

Murray came agonisingly close to upsetting the world number one, leading 4-1 in the final set tiebreak before eventually going down 7-6, 3-6, 7-6.

Despite this it was one of Murray's best performances in 2010 but reflecting on the match, Murray said that he expects himself to be able to raise his level like that for the big occasions.

“You don't go into matches like that expecting any less,” he told the press. “I was obviously very disappointed with the way I played against Roger. I think the match today is how I want to play all the time. I want to try and build on that for next year. But I need to improve because I'm competing with the two best players of all time. So if I want to win these tournaments, I want to win the Grand Slams, I need to get better.”

Murray has had many memorable matches with Nadal in recent years ever since they first played – a 5 set classic at the Australian Open three years ago and Murray revealed that he relishes the challenge of taking on the world number one.

“I just love playing against him,” he said. “For me as a sportsman, I don't know if there's been many better than him ever in terms of the way he conducts himself. His whole team that he works with is incredibly nice. I have a lot of respect for him. When I play against him, I really, really enjoy it. I've had many great matches with him. I've lost some of them. I've been lucky enough to win some. Hopefully I'll get more chances to play him in these sort of matches because today is the reason I play tennis.”