Andy Murray has admitted he is disappointed after defeat in his first French Open final - a thrilling four set encounter against Novak Djokovic.
Having taken the first set 6-3 on Court Philippe Chatrier, the momentum was fully with the Brit. With that being said, Novak recovered well from falling behind early and upped his performance level significantly to pose a number of tough questions - giving Murray a tough time and staying in numerous rallies he had no right to.
Fatigue from earlier rounds set in
As quoted by the Evening Standard, Murray said he was "struggling", which is interesting considering he was only "a couple of points" away from a shock first-round loss against Radek Stepanek.
"But then when you get there (to the final), obviously you want to win. You know, I didn't do that today - right now I'm very disappointed."
If he had kept up the encouraging momentum from winning the first set, he'd have become the first British player to win the French Open title since Fred Perry, in 1935. Djokovic stepped up significantly after the changeover and held his nerve to win his fourth consecutive major.
Murray reflective and gracious in defeat
After the result was confirmed, Murray was gracious when addressing the public - against an opponent who had tasted defeat against Stan Wawrinka on the same stage twelve months earlier. You could tell from Djokovic's emotional celebrations what the victory meant to him, and Andy could see it too.
"Winning all four of the grand slams in one year is an amazing achievement. This is something that is so rare in tennis. Me personally being on the opposite side, it sucks to lose the match - but I am proud to have been part of today."
At 29, he's still got a few good years left in him, and Murray is equally bullish about his chances of achieving more success before he retires.