JUST A SHADOW
I simply ran out of gas says Murray after brave semi-final defeat
ANDY MURRAY finally ran out of gas at the French Open – then insisted he has rediscovered the form to defend his Wimbledon title.
But Stan Wawrinka claimed Murray is not the player he was last year, even though the world No.1 came within four points of beating him in a stunning semifinal battle.
After losing the crucial fourthset fourth tie-break, the weary Scot was pummelled into submission by the brutal ground strokes of the Swiss strong man. The world No.3 won 6-7 6-3 5-7 7-6 6-1 in four hours, 34 minutes – and will meet Rafa Nadal in tomorrow’s final.
Murray (congratulating his opponent, right) had won only five of his previous 10 matches before arriving in Paris after suffering from injury, illness and poor form. And the top seed conceded his belowpar preparation caught up with him by the end.
“I am disappointed and tired, but I’m proud of the tournament I had,” he said. “I was one tie-break away from getting to the final when I came in really struggling.
“Maybe the lack of matches hurt me a little bit in the end today. That was a very high intensity match. A lot of long points. Physically, I didn’t feel my best at the end.
“I lost a little bit of speed on my serve. I didn’t have enough weight on my shot at the end of the match to put him under any real pressure. When you haven’t been playing loads, over four-and-a-half hours, that can catch up to you a little bit. So I only have myself to blame for that, for the way I played coming into the tournament.”
Wawrinka has the best backhand in the business – and a fizzing forehand that does even more damage. He hit 87 unstoppable winners against 77 unforced errors to reach his second final here.
He could have won in three sets – and won seven consecutive games at one point in the second and third sets. “I lost my way a little bit then,” Murray admitted.
Wawrinka raced to a 5-0 lead in the decider and sealed the triumph with another stunning backhand winner down the line.
Murray will now swap the red clay for green turf for the grasscourt season – starting at the Aegon Championships on June 19 with Wimbledon a fortnight later.
“I turned my form around really, really well,” he said. “I do feel like having an event like this can give me a boost and hopefully have a strong grass-court season.
“Often when I have done well on the clay, I feel like that’s helped me a little bit on the grass. I am looking forward to a strong second half of the year.” But Wawrinka, who lost the semi-final to Murray here last year, said: “Today I think he’s less confident. He played less fast. He was more hesitant and that gave me more time to play my game.”
Nine-time champion Rafa Nadal beat Dominic Thiem 6-3 6-4 6-0 to reach the final losing only 29 games. It is the second best run in Roland Garros history – Bjorn Borg dropped 27 games on his way to the 1978 final, which he won.