The season could yet end on a tremendous high for Andy Murray but there was no hiding his frustration and disappointment after he crashed out of the ATP World Tour Finals before the semi-finals once again.

After beating David Ferrer and losing to Rafael Nadal, Murray faced a straight shoot-out with Stan Wawrinka for a place in the last four.

But the Scot let a lead slip in the first-set tie-break and, although he never stopped fighting, it was not enough to prevent a 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 defeat and an early exit for the fourth time in six appearances at the O2 Arena.

Wawrinka now goes through to a rematch of last year's dramatic encounter with compatriot Roger Federer, which ended in acrimony after Federer's wife Mirka heckled Wawrinka with the now infamous taunt of 'cry baby'.

Murray said: "I made too many errors. It was tough. I couldn't quite get the balance. Because, when I was going for my shots, I felt like I was making errors.
"At 4-2 (in the tie-break), I gave a cheap point away. I missed a forehand on the first ball of the rally. It was a fairly basic shot. Then two second-serve returns on my backhand, one into the net, one into the tramlines at 4-3. I made one other error at the end of the set as well.

"Obviously, that was an important point in the match. But even in the last game, as well, a couple of backhands, one in the middle of the net on a deuce point, and match point, another simple backhand into the tramlines.
"Way too many errors. Cheap ones, as well. Disappointing."

There were questions before the match about how much Murray really wanted to make the semi-finals having made clear next weekend's Davis Cup final against Belgium was his priority.

But those were soon answered when he strained every sinew to make a forehand pass in the third game and leapt in the air in celebration.
The problem was not desire but timing. Having broken Wawrinka when he served for the first set at 5-3, all seemed well when Murray led 4-2 in the tie-break.

But he suffered a sudden and inexplicable loss of form, losing five straight points, all through his own mistakes, and the hangover continued into the second set.

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