Murray hopes to carry momentum into grass court season

Following his defeat to Stan Wawrinka at the French Open, Andy Murray is feeling confident about the grass court season.

Andy Murray hopes to harness the momentum gained by his run to the French Open semi-finals and push on into the grass court season.

World No. 1 Murray was beaten 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 (7-3), 6-1 in a four-and-a-half-hour epic by Stan Wawrinka on Court Philippe Chatrier on Friday, as the Swiss booked his place in a second Roland Garros final, having won in Paris in 2015.

But two-time Wimbledon champion Murray was satisfied with his performance over the past fortnight, having been some way short of top form since the start of the year.

Asked how far he was from his best, Murray said: "I don't know how close I am to that.

"I played pretty well these last few matches. Even when you're playing well, you're not going to win every match you play, but I put myself in a position to reach a slam final, so I'm obviously playing pretty good.

"I played some good stuff here. How close that is to my tennis from last year, I don't know. Very difficult to say.

"Hopefully it gives me a good base to go into the 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.

"Certainly the matches are not as physical, so going through matches like I did today is a good step for me.

"But it's impossible to say how close you are to your best level at any stage. Things change on a daily basis.

"I played better today than I did in the last match and lost. That happens."

Discussing his performance against Wawrinka, Murray added:  "Physically I didn't feel my best at the end. It is more like I didn't have enough weight on my shot at the end of the match to put him under any real pressure.

"So a lot of the points he was dictating from the middle of the court, and I was sort of retrieving and allowing him to pretty much hit the shots that he wants. Against a shot maker, someone who hits the ball as big as him, that's obviously not ideal.

"Whether that was down to me being a little bit slower in the fifth set or whatever it was, it was not a successful tactic, hitting the ball short in the middle of the court. Didn't work."