Andy Murray hopes Olympic gold will boost Grand Slam chances

Andy Murray says beating Roger Federer in the Olympic singles final was the "biggest win of my life" and could help him win his first Grand Slam title.

The Scot overwhelmed Federer 6-2 6-1 6-4 at Wimbledon and will now focus on the US Open, which starts on 27 August.

"I hope this will give me the confidence to go there and believe in myself a bit more than I have in the past," said Murray.

"Hopefully I can have a good run and give myself a shot at winning."

Sunday's victory on Centre Court was his first over 17-time Grand Slam champion Federer in a best-of-five sets match.

The British number one has played four major finals - losing to Federer at the 2008 US Open, 2010 Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, and Novak Djokovic at the 2011 Australian Open.

But having beaten Federer and Djokovic at London 2012, and with Nadal currently injured, Murray will be confident of ending his wait for one of the sport's top honours.

"I have lost some tough matches," said the 25-year-old, who also picked up a silver medal in the mixed doubles with Laura Robson.

"I've had a lot of questions asked about me many times. I'm just glad I managed to put on a performance I've been waiting for.

"It was a huge match for me. It was a big match for Roger as well. I'm sure he would have wanted to win the gold - it's one of the few things he hasn't done in his singles career.

"To win today, in the way I did, makes those losses a little bit easier to take. It will help with the way I go into the [Grand Slam] matches and I hope it will make me a better player."

Murray will travel to Canada on Monday but said he would assess his physical condition before deciding whether to compete in the Toronto Masters.

"I have to be careful over the next two weeks not to do too much and make sure I pace myself going into the US Open because it's been a long couple of months."

Murray's triumph was Great Britain's 16th gold medal and helped take their overall tally to 37 in what has turned into a hugely successful Games for the host nation.

He suffered a shock first-round defeat by Yen Hsun Lu in Beijing four years ago, but made up for that disappointment in the best possible manner.

The right-hander from Dunblane is the first British man to win an Olympics singles gold medal since Josiah Ritchie in 1908, and hopes his feat can help inspire future generations.

"If we can get more kids playing sport the more chance there is of getting great champions and Olympic medallists," said Murray, exactly four weeks on from his loss in the Wimbledon final.

"For a country of our size we've done amazingly well so far this Olympics. If we could just get 5%, 10% more people playing any sports, we might be able to compete one day with the big, big countries, like the USA and China especially. We're not that far off.

"If we can make tennis a bit more accessible to kids, the more kids we will have playing and the more chance we've got of having great depth and of this becoming an even better sport."

Federer was gracious in defeat and said he felt Murray would always grow stronger for the high-profile defeats he has experienced in recent years.

"It was obvious that Andy was going to become a better player," explained the 30-year-old, who admitted he would "love to be a part of" the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

"He learned how to play more aggressively. He's more consistent. I was very happy for him that he was able to bring home the gold for Great Britain. It was a long time coming for him.

"He didn't need this [to prove a point], he's an amazing player already. After losing the Wimbledon final it would have been easy for him to have a let-down, but he came here and won gold. This is how champions react."