Deflated Murray fans count cost of defeat

By Kylie MacLellan

LONDON (Reuters) - Fans of Andy Murray who paid over the odds for Wimbledon final tickets in the hope of seeing the Briton enter the record books tried to recoup their losses on Saturday, while bookmakers breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

World number three Murray, who had been bidding to become the first Briton in the men's final since 1938, crashed out to American sixth seed Andy Roddick in the semi-finals on Friday, saving bookies millions of pounds in payouts.

Ticket resale websites saw a flurry of activity as deflated Murray fans, some of whom had paid as much as seven times the face value for tickets for Sunday's final, put them up for sale.

"No longer going as there is no Murray," one post read, advertising a pair of tickets for Sunday's final at 1,300 pounds after having bought them for 750 pounds each a week earlier.

"Face value of tickets is 100 pounds but were bought for much more than this, looking to make back some of the loss," it added, a sentiment echoed in many other posts on the website.

The Scot had been widely tipped to play five-time champion Roger Federer for the title, and as he progressed through each round demand for final tickets -- advertised for as much as 20,000 pounds on auction websites -- boomed.

REALISTIC PRICE

While demand for men's final tickets remained on Saturday, many fans were no longer willing to pay as much for them without the prospect of a home-grown player to get behind.