Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Andy Murray: "I don't regret giving an opinion"

Andy Murray has said he does not "regret giving an opinion" but is disappointed with the way he tweeted his support for Scottish independence.

The tennis star was abused on Twitter for his tweet, which he sent just hours before the polls opened on Thursday.

He said the UK was going to be stronger as a result of the referendum and he looked forward to competing for Great Britain for the rest of his career.

Murray said everyone should be allowed an opinion but he wanted to "move on".

In a BBC interview in China, Murray said: "It was a very emotional day for Scottish people and the whole country and the whole of the UK - it was a big day.

Image copyright Twitter

"The way it was worded, the way I sent it, is not really in my character. I don't normally do stuff like that.

"So, yeah, I was a bit disappointed by that. It's time to move on. I can't go back on that and I'll concentrate on my tennis for the next few months."

Murray's tweet, just hours before polls opened on Thursday, read: "Huge day for Scotland today! no campaign negativity last few days totally swayed my view on it. excited to see the outcome. lets do this!"

Murray, who in 2013 became the first British man to win Wimbledon in more than 70 years, was later subjected to online abuse which was described as "vile" by Police Scotland.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Andy Murray tweeted his support for independence on Thursday

Some users sent him hate messages, with one referring to the Dunblane massacre in 1996.

Murray was a pupil at Dunblane Primary school when gunman Thomas Hamilton shot 16 children and their teacher.

In the BBC interview, Murray was asked what he had actually meant in his tweet.

He said: "I don't want to go into too much detail about it, it's been obviously a hard few days for me.

"From my side, I just want to move on from it and hope everyone can."

He added: "I think it was amazing how many people turned out to vote. I personally wasn't able to vote. I trust the Scottish people made the right decision."

Asked if he thought it would affect his mother Judy's chances in the BBC's Strictly Coming Dancing programme, Murray said: "I don't think her chances were very high beforehand. I've never really seen her dance before. But I hope she has a good time, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

"She's told me she's been having fun with all the training stuff. Hopefully she can do well. I don't think they'll have it on the TV over here in China, so I won't be able to watch."

Meanwhile, Scottish comedian Billy Connolly said there would be "hell to pay" if Prime Minister David Cameron did not honour his pledge of extra powers for Scotland.