Wawrinka upbeat despite nail-biting loss to Federer

THREE-time grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka said he was disappointed but there were plenty of good things to come out of his run to the semi-finals at the Australian Open.

Wawrinka, the 2014 champion in Melbourne, lost to good friend and fellow Swiss Roger Federer in a five-set thriller on Thursday night.

He had been hoping to become the first man other than Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic to win back-to-back grand slam titles since Andre Agassi in 1999-2000.

While he was sad not to have beaten his compatriot after coming back from two sets down to take the semi to a deciding set, Wawrinka added: "I'm proud of myself, of the fight I gave (in the the semi-final) and all the tournament.

"There is a lot of positives from this tournament, from Brisbane, from the month already.

"For sure I'm really sad and disappointed with a loss like that because to be that close to have won a semi-final, it can be only sad.

"But at the end I had a great battle against Roger. He's a great fighter. He's always been amazing in grand slams, in five-set matches. I'm for sure sad to lose a match like that.

"But I know there are a lot of positives.”

Wawrinka said there was plenty to look forward to for the rest of 2017, including the fact he was seemingly in control of a knee injury that had been niggling him.

"It's been an issue since the beginning of the tournament ... (but) it's not an excuse at all,” the 31-year-old said.

"I go on the court with what I have on the day. I give everything.

"(But) what exact (injury) I have, I have to check. Really I have to do some bigger tests when I get home.”