Andy Murray pushed Rafael Nadal in the French Open semi-finals and then declared he is closer than ever to the Spaniard on the surface he has made his own.

Nadal, who will play either Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer in the final on Sunday, celebrated his 25th birthday by moving to within one victory of a sixth title at Roland Garros as he withstood a gutsy display from the world number four to triumph 6-4 7-5 6-4 which lasted three hours and 17 minutes.

It was straight sets but certainly not straightforward for the top seed as Murray acquitted himself extremely well in his first French Open semi-final, building on impressive performances in Monte Carlo and Rome.

He said: "At the start of the clay-court season there's no chance anyone was thinking I'd be in this position. I'm happy that I managed to put myself in that position today [Friday].

"Rafa is a better clay-court player than me. That's a fact. It's always been like that since we both started on the tour. His results would show that.

"But I feel like I've closed the gap. I think I'm a lot better on clay than I was last year. I still have a way to go to be as good as him, and so does pretty much every player on the tour.

"I need to work on some things. I look forward to that for next year, but now I've got to concentrate on how to win against the likes of him and Roger and Novak on the grass. It's a different game, so I look forward to that."

For the third match in a row Murray, who revealed he may pull out of the AEGON Championships at Queen's Club as he bids to recover fully from his ankle injury, found himself playing catch-up in the opening set as a fired-up Nadal raced into a 5-1 lead.

Pulling the Spaniard back was a different proposition to his comebacks against Viktor Troicki and Juan Ignacio Chela but to his credit Murray dug in and took advantage of three uncharacteristic errors to pull one break back.

He then had two chances to level at 5-5 but he could not take them, and it was a pattern that would be repeated throughout the match.

Eighteen times Murray created break points but 15 of them were saved by Nadal, who as ever saved his very best for when he most needed it.

Two breaks came in a ding-dong spell in the middle of the second set when the Spaniard twice moved ahead only to be immediately pegged back. Murray had also had a golden chance at the start of the set but found the gusting wind as fierce a foe as Nadal.

The crucial break came in the 11th game as the Spaniard pegged his opponent back from 40-15, and this time he took his chance to move two sets to the good.

Murray played a rare poor game to give away a break at the start of the third and, despite his best efforts, it was a deficit he could not recover.

The Scot was content with his performance and conceded Nadal had been just too good.

He said: "It was a long match, there were a lot of deuce games. A lot of service games were really, really tight. I thought I did well.

"Everyone seems to think it's easy against Rafa to just come into the net or go for big shots, but you do have to be very patient. Sometimes I didn't quite get the ball I was looking for, and sometimes when I did I made a few mistakes.

"But I think it was a close match. I don't think there was too much in it. He just played better than me today [Friday]. That's the difference."

Murray moved well and did not appear to be affected too much by the ankle he rolled in his third-round win over Michael Berrer, but he will not take any chances ahead of Wimbledon.

The 24-year-old added: "I'll see my physio and talk about the best thing to do. If staying on the anti-inflammatories and the painkillers is right, then I could easily be on the practice court tomorrow [Saturday].

"But if it's best to get off them for a few days, see how everything is really feeling, I might have to take a couple days off and see."

Nadal was pleased with the way he played the big points and felt the fact he managed to stay in front for the whole match had been important.

He said: "It's true I saved a lot of break points. I played well in the important moments. But another thing that's true is I had the score in my favour all the time.

"He had good chances. In the third set I had to save a lot of important moments with my serve. To win these kind of matches, it's always the small things that matter.

"The player who plays better on these kind of points, or who is a little bit more lucky, has the better chance to win. Today [Friday] I did. For that reason, I am in the final."

Nadal also found the windy conditions a struggle, although he admitted it may not have been to his detriment as much as Murray's.

He said: "From outside it is difficult to appreciate how difficult it is to play well here with these conditions today [Friday].

"You feel scared to hit the ball because it was crazy wind and it changed direction all the time. I don't like to play with wind, but I think when there is wind outside it is not bad news for my game."

Nadal had encouraging words for Murray, who he expects to be a major threat at Wimbledon and beyond.

He added: "I always liked Andy a lot as a player and as a person. Every time that I beat him in these kind of matches, I feel sad for him, because he deserves to win a grand slam for sure.

"In my opinion he's going to do it because his level and his talent is fantastic. He needs a little bit of luck sometimes, but he's improving on every surface.

"I always said he's a very complete player and he has the chance to play very well on all the surfaces. Clay is not an exception. He's doing better and better every year and he had a fantastic clay-court season.

"Right now is the start of grass for him. I think he's a good player on grass, and especially on hard later he will have very good chances to have a fantastic year."