Andy Murray admitted the better man had won after he lost his quarter-final to Rafael Nadal.
Spaniard backs Murray to reach top five
Andy Murray admitted the better man had won after he lost his quarter-final to Rafael Nadal.
The Scot was outplayed by world number two Nadal, who won 6-3 6-2 6-4 to reach the last four where he will face either Rainer Schuettler or Arnaud Clement.
Not even the Centre Court crowd, who had pulled Murray through his fourth-round match against Richard Gasquet in a frenzy of patriotism, could inject enough belief or energy into the 21-year-old.
Physically exhausted. Mentally drained. So one-sided did the contest become that it was little short of a humiliation.
To his credit there were no excuses from Murray.
He said: "He played so much better than me. I didn't feel I played my best which was disappointing. He was hitting the ball so close to the line and so hard, I was rushed on every point.
Amazing
"It's amazing how fast he hits the ball and moves his arm. You've just got to try to hang in there. I had a slight chance at 3-2 in the third at 15-30. You just have to keep fighting and hope his level goes down a bit but I had no chances on his serve at all."
Murray also insisted his punishing fourth-round five-setter was not responsible for the no-contest of a quarter-final.
He said: "I felt like I'd recovered well. I didn't feel the legs were all that heavy. The Gasquet match had no bearing on the match whatsoever."
Nadal, meanwhile, was humble and generous in triumph as you might expect from a four-times French Open champion.
He said: "I played my best match here against difficult opposition. I played very aggressive all the time and tried to hit with big power and attack his second serve.
Top five
"He will be in the top five very soon and will have good chances to win here at Wimbledon."
After reaching the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time, Murray cannot wait for Wimbledon next year.
He said: "I can improve so many things in my game and it's up to me to do that. I have to work even harder and get up to that level. It will just take a lot of hard work.
"This is the furthest I've been in a slam, the match against Gasquet was one of the best I've played in. It's been a positive tournament for me and I'm going to be back in the top 10 at the end of this week. Now I've got to try to stay there."
For Nadal, a third consecutive Wimbledon final would appear as certain as the sun, which finally came out after the first really rainy day of the fortnight, setting in the west.
There is a relentless quality to his game. No easy points given, few chances not taken.
Murray said: "He's a great chance to beat Federer. If he plays that well and returns like that he's very close to being favourite to win the tournament."
For Murray, Wimbledon 2008 has provided some treasured memories - and a harsh lesson learned.
