Andy Murray was understandably disappointed after losing the French Open final to Novak Djokovic, but he was quick to compliment the world No. 1, called his career Grand Slam "a rare thing."
Djokovic has now won 12 majors, including four in a row. Murray has won two, with the last coming at Wimbledon in 2013.
“I'm very disappointed,” said Murray, who went five sets in his first two matches before finding his form and reaching his first French Open final. "...From 13 days ago, I maybe would have signed to have been in this position. I was struggling. I was a couple of points from going out of the tournament in the first round. But then when you get there, obviously you want to win. I didn't do that.
"I'm very disappointed, but obviously the tournament could have been quite different had I gone out in the first round.”
On May 15, the world No. 2 defeated Djokovic in straight sets in Rome. But at the French Open, the Scot simply couldn’t stay with the Serb.
Murray has played Djokovic tough over the last year, but he has had trouble finding consistency against the world No. 1 during his streak of four straight Slams.
“[It’s] such a rare thing to have happened, and obviously the depth in the game now is strong,” Murray said. “Some people may think differently, but the level of tennis, I think, is pretty high now, and something you probably won't see for a long, long time. His performances over the last 18 months to two years have been exceptional, and he deserves to be No. 1.