Game, set and bitten nails: nowhere were cuticles in more danger than in Andy Murray’s home town of Dunblane. The atmosphere was thick with disappointment and unfulfilled promise.

When the final point was played there were shrieks of dismay from the crowd in the Dunblane Hotel where the heat and humidity, not to mention the unbearable tension, threatened to overcome the 50 sweating fans watching on the television in the small bar.

The cries of “C’mon, Andy” and the urgent but futile advice to “get it together son, just get it over the net” became more frantic as the town’s great hope began to wilt.

Dunblane tennis club, where Murray first picked up a racket, does not have a big screen, so the members were watching the match in the nearby golf club. Liz Hogan, a retail manager, said: “I’m gutted. Absolutely gutted. He put in a good fight though.”

A group of young men watching at The Village Inn emerged with looks of shock across their faces. Chris Murty, a 24-year-old engineer, said: “I’m devastated. I can’t believe it. Of course I thought he was going to win and be the best in the world.” Earlier a sewer had overflowed outside the inn. One customer observed ruefully: “It was maybe a sign.”

Supporters south of the Border shared the disappointment, though many sensed a certain inevitabililty about a British sporting hero turning out to have feet of clay. After all, there was plenty of precedent, and they gave Murray credit for putting on a brave show. In Exchange Square in Manchester, crowds of office workers had gathered to watch the match on their way home from work. Andy Roddick’s winning shot was greeted with a stunned silence.

Bridget Robinson, who was born in 1936, the year that a Briton last won Wimbledon, said: “I am so disappointed, but you have to say that Roddick played very well. It was no reflection on Andy.” Thom Gavin, 19, a student from Sale, had watched the entire match, enthralled, from his damp perch. He said: “Murray played exceptionally well over the tournaments, taking us with him on a wonderful journey. We were always going to feel let down if he did not make the final. I am sure he will improve his game and come back again”.

Laura Clarke, 19, a student from Salford, said: “It would have been so lovely to have a Briton win. There would be more of a sense of deflation if Murray had not played so well. There won’t be any blame. People are disappointed but they won’t be disappointed with him.”

In Canary Wharf in the London Docklands, City workers in front of the big screen had been looking forward to the clash with nervous anticipation. “I’m totally gutted. He did a good Tim Henman impression today,” said Robin McAlpine, 36, who works for BP. “It’s ruined my weekend, I’ll have nothing to do and I’ll just be moping around.” Most of the spectators seemed to be experiencing not so much shock as a strange sense of familiarity.

“The more people cheer a British player, the more likely they are to lose,” declared Pouria Farvid. His friend Sapna Patel added: “I’m really, really disappointed. And I thought it was quite disappointing that no one was really clapping for Roddick.”

“I find it a bit inevitable — it’s always the same, the British lose sporting events,” said another worker, turning, like many, to the familiar British response to disappointment: another pint of beer.