ANDY Murray said it sucked to lose to nemesis Novak Djokovic who became the first man to hold all four tennis Grand Slam titles at once for 47 years through victory in the French Open.
The Serbian world number one came from a set down to prevent the Scots superstar from becoming the first British winner at Roland Garros since 1935.
But the Scots world number two had kind words for his arch-rival who won in four sets to claim his first ever French Open title.
"This is his day," said Murray on court after the defeat. "What he's achieved, the last 12 months is phenomenal, winning all the Grand Slams in one year is an amazing achievement. It's so rare in tennis, and for me personally, it sucks to lose the match, but I'm proud to have been part of today."
Djokovic was equally generous, saying: "Andy, I want to start off by saying congratulations for an amazing tournament. It was a tough match today and thank you for your kind words to my team and myself. It was a pleasure to play against you once more and to share special moments.
"Unfortunately one (of us) had to lose but I'm sure we'll see you with the big trophies in the future."
Later Murray told ITV: "I was disappointed obviously, it was not the result I wanted but Novak played extremely well
"I almost managed to find a way at the end of that fourth set to keep the match going but it was not enough.
"When you are playing the best in the world there are going to be times when they raise their game and after I missed break point in the first game of the second set he loosened up a bit."
Residents and well-wishers in Dunblane had headed for pubs and community centres in Murray's home town to cheer him on from afar.
But viewers in the The Dunblane Centre were spared Djokovic's final winning point when the television feed cut out just as the soon-to-be champion was about to serve.
For Murray, appearing in his first French Open final, it was another blow as he came up short at the final hurdle in a grand slam for an eighth time, his fifth loss against Djokovic.
It now means he has won just two of the 10 grand slam finals he has appeared in, a return of just 20%.
For the 29-year-old Serb, it is now 12 grand slam titles. He is now joint fourth on the all-time list with Australian Roy Emerson, behind Rafael Nadal and Pete Sampras on 14 and Roger Federer on 17.
In Dunblane, Murray fans were pragmatic about his most recent loss.
Steve Birnie, 51, chair of the board of trustees at the Dunblane Centre, said: "I think the Dunblane Centre's wifi decided to spare us the pain of having to watch the final point.
"I thought Andy played really well, and I thought he might just pull it back towards the end of the last set but it was just too little too late.
"I think he lost some of the aggression that he seemed to have in that first set, and didn't get it back until he came to the end of those final sets when he showed that flash that made us think he might just make it.
"Dunblane loves Andy Murray and loves following Andy Murray, and it would have been a huge thing just to see him create another historic victory.
"But he's still got a chance to do it. Wimbledon is coming up and we've obviously got big hopes for that, so fingers crossed."
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