Anyone who cannot spare a drop of sympathy for Andy Murray in defeat at the hands of Roger Federer in this enthralling Wimbledon final either does not recognise genius or should be earning a living in a merchant bank. And anyone who can make his mother cry with a consolation speech of the quality he delivered to a transfixed Centre Court after three hours and 24 minutes of such spirit-draining effort is, as he described himself recently, "a pretty nice person".

He is also a pretty good tennis player – but on Sunday not quite good enough to beat Federer, who faltered at the start with the sun beating down, then thrived after the rain forced the match under the roof, to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.

It is doubtful if anyone could have matched him in this mood and form: not Novak Djokovic, whom he beat handsomely in the semi-finals on Friday and displaces as world No1 just a month shy of his 31st birthday; maybe not even Pete Sampras, his hero, whose mark of seven Wimbledon titles he has equalled, to go with the 10 other grand slams he has won. As for that British ghost from the past who is still riding on Murray's back, Fred Perry, he lived almost in another sport. As Boris Becker said later: "Murray played like a champion. There is no shame in losing to Roger Federer."

The Scot could not have tried harder, the Swiss can rarely have played better, especially at the end. Suspicions that Federer, without a major title since beating Murray in the final in Melbourne two and a half years ago, would not rule his sport again were dismissed on his gilded racket in an exhibition of breathtaking, irresistible tennis, certainly indoors, a place where he regards himself as near unbeatable.

Murray broke him after two minutes but, after levelling, Federer broke Murray's heart in the final two sets. With the sun out in the first two hours Murray was in the fight. Thereafter he did well to hang on for as long as he did.

"I'm getting closer," he said later with the hint of a forced smile, and the crowd laughed with him. He stopped for a second, blew out his cheeks and, voice croaking, congratulated Federer, thanked his team and paid tribute to the fans, inside the stadium and drenched on the hill, for their support.

He said he could not look up at his box for fear they might all collapse in a lachrymose heap – perhaps even his granite-faced coach, Ivan Lendl, who might have been fighting hard against tear ducts because they have grown increasingly close in the six months they have been together. Murray's mother, Judy, did not fight the tears.

Federer paid him the tribute of saying he has it in him to win a major, although you can be sure he would not want to be on the other side of the net when he does. He remains a consummate artiste and a grand fighter. This was a two-man event, after all, and he deserves the highest praise for his wonderful performance.

There were so many memorable moments, this space might not be adequate to give all of them justice. The eighth game of the first set was Murray's most harrowing to that point as he failed to get a single first serve in. He battled through two break points and two deuce points to hold; had he not, the set and even the match might have started to slip away from him. He was never going to let that happen and Federer was to learn quickly what an uncompromising affair this was.

Did Lendl mutter "missed" when Murray belted a short one straight at Federer's Alice band to go to 30-40 on the Swiss's serve? Probably.

Federer ducked the shot but there was no escaping the scoreline when he netted the final backhand of a terrific rally to drop serve and Murray was a service game away from taking the set. The cameo of aggression was a reprise of the moment in Murray's semi-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday when he struck him in the groin in the final game of the third set.

But, if there was a single pivot to yesterday's contest that stands out above the others, it arrived in the sixth game of the third set, under the roof, with Federer hitting the ball as cleanly and powerfully as he can have done the whole tournament. Murray raced to 40-0 but crashed heavily going for a drop shot at 40-30 and, grabbing his first deuce point, Federer made him suffer for the next quarter of an hour with power, placement and intelligence. Murray saved five break points but could not hold on forever and his final backhand, after being dragged across the baseline, fell limply into the net.

Federer's tennis was as impeccable as his shorts. What Murray needed was a sustained phase of magic, something to feed doubt again into Federer's mind, as he had done at the beginning. He could not quite find enough moments.