London, Nov 19 (IANS): World No.2 Andy Murray, who was beaten by Spaniard Rafael Nadal at the tennis World Tour Finals, has said the Spanish player is "always among the favourites" to win the titles.

No.5 Nadal defeated Murray 6-4, 6-1 here on Wednesday, reports Efe.

At a press conference after the match, the Briton said Nadal participates in the major championships and is always among the favourites. Although the Spanish player faced some difficulties earlier this year, all the players go through such difficulties.

"He obviously played better than he did when I played him earlier in the year," Murray said on Wednesday.

"I think Rafael always practices pretty hard from what I see. Obviously he's won a lot more matches in the second half of the year."

"He's clearly playing better tennis now than a few months ago. Also I didn't help myself out there," Murray explained.

"I served poorly at the end of the first set and all through the second. That's not going to be good enough against him when he's playing that well," the Briton added.