Andy Murray felt "gutted" for Rafa Nadal when the Spaniard limped out of the Australian Open with a knee injury but said he deserved his place in the semi-finals after putting on a dazzling display.
"I'm obviously disappointed that the match couldn't have finished as I would have liked," Murray told reporters after Nadal retired when trailing 6-3, 7-6, 3-0 in their quarter-final clash on Tuesday.
"I've known Rafa since I was 13 or 14 and he is somebody I have always looked up to... I am gutted for him.
"(But) when the big moments came in the match, I thought I dictated what happened on the court. Obviously I didn't know when he hurt his knee, when he started feeling it.
"From my side, I played really well and deserved to be up when the match was stopped. I feel like I would have had a chance of going on to finish the match. Unfortunately that happens sometimes in sport. A win's a win."
Having defeated the Spaniard, a man he had beaten only twice in nine previous meetings, Murray's dream of a maiden grand slam has come into sharper focus.
The 22-year-old absorbed everything Nadal could fire at him and sent it back with interest and should go into his semi-final against Marin Cilic with confidence.
UNBELIEVABLE LEVEL
"He's at an unbelievable level, no? I was at a very high level, too," said Nadal. "I think Andy deserves to win his first grand slam and I think he gonna win it."
The Scot has buoyed Britain's hopes of ending a 74-year-wait for a men's Grand Slam champion, winning six ATP tour titles and achieving career-best showings at the French Open (quarter-final) and Wimbledon (semi-finals) last year.
But Cilic, who thrashed a dismal Murray at the US Open in their last meeting, remains a tricky hurdle to the final.
"I obviously didn't have my best day ... Everyone talks about (the US Open) a lot, about revenge and stuff. But you just go out there and every day's a different day in tennis," said Murray.
"I think that I can win the match. Regardless of what happened at the US Open, if I play well, focus hard and concentrate, then there's no reason why I can't beat him again."
Murray will draw comfort from his straight-sets run to the semi-finals and the fact that Cilic, now officially the tournament's marathon man with three five-set matches in Melbourne Park, has slogged away almost twice as long on the court.
"I think even last year in the slams it took some pretty good performances to win against me," Murray added. "I think definitely now I'm ready to win a grand slam and hopefully I can do it here."
