Andy Murray proud of French Open campaign
Andy Murray leaves Paris a beaten man but in significantly better shape than when he arrived after falling just short of another grand slam final.
Stan Wawrinka gained revenge for his loss to Murray here 12 months ago with a 6-7 (6/8) 6-3 5-7 7-6 (7/3) 6-1 victory that lasted four hours and 34 minutes.
It was a rollercoaster of a match, with Murray second best for most of the first three sets but somehow emerging two sets to one in front.
He then looked in control of the fourth but it was Wawrinka who dominated the tie-break and by the decider Murray had nothing left.
Wawrinka will face nine-time champion Rafael Nadal in the final on Sunday.
Having arrived at Roland Garros with only four wins since February and unsure even whether he would survive one match, Murray could not be too unhappy with his loss.
He said: ''I'm proud of the tournament I had. I did well considering. I was one tie-break away from getting to the final when I came in really struggling. So I have to be proud of that.
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.
When you haven't been playing loads, 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.
But I turned my form around really, really well and ended up having a good tournament, all things considered.''
Murray now heads home to begin preparations for the grass-court season, beginning with the defence of his title at Queen's Club.
Wawrinka, meanwhile, faces one of the toughest tests in sport - trying to stop Nadal winning an unprecedented 10th French Open title.
Nadal has never lost a final at Roland Garros, while Wawrinka has won all of his previous three slam finals, including against the Spaniard at the Australian Open in 2014.
The women's singles final on Saturday pits tournament favourite Simona Halep against unseeded 20-year-old Jelena Ostapenko, with both looking to win a first grand slam title.
Victory for Halep, the runner-up in 2014, would also see her overtake Angelique Kerber to become world number one.
Alfie Hewett, meanwhile, will bid to become the first British player to win a French Open title in wheelchair singles when he takes on Argentinian defending champion Gustavo Fernandez.