2010 Barclays ATP World Tour finals: Rafael Nadal outlasts Andy Murray
World number one Spaniard Rafael “Rafa” Nadal outlasted local favourite Andy Murray in their semi final match at the O2 Arena on Saturday. In a three-setter that lasted for three hours, Rafa finally emerged victorious to make his
debut final appearance in a World Tour Finals event.
The Mallorca resident was able to take a one-match lead in the currently tied hard court head-to-head score. Before their semi final match, Murray led the season head-to-head score by 2-1. Besides leading their career head-to-head
by 9-4, Rafa has also tied the season head-to-head at 2-2 removing any, and all, statistical advantages that the Brit might have enjoyed.
Winning seven titles this year, including three Grand Slams and three Masters, Rafa is in full swing this season. Having completed the career Golden Slam with a title win at the 2010 United States Open, Rafa now sets his eyes on
the World Tour Final title that has long eluded him.
As the two took to the court, Rafa won the toss and opted to receive service. Serving in the opener, Murray won the first game to lead 1-0. From here on, the two players engaged in a tooth and nail battle, desperate to take the
lead. However, with each of them winning games on serve, the score remained tied until it reached 6-6. The first tiebreaker of the semi final had come. Murray opened the tiebreaker with a well-placed ace going 1-0 in the score. However, he managed to win only
one of the next five points giving Rafa a 4-2 lead. Murray bounced back at this point and with a loss of only one point managed to tie the score at 5-5. With an impressive backhand and a drop-dead volley, Rafa won the next two points winning the tiebreaker
7-5. Rafa went into a one set lead.
Serving first into the second set, Nadal gained a 1-0 lead, but this time it was Murray following closely at the heels. With neither missing a game on their service, the second set followed suit as the first set, until the eighteenth
game. The score was tied at 3-3. Breaking service in the nineteenth and twenty-first games, Murray won the next three consecutive games to win the set 6-3 and tie the set score at 1-1.
As expected by many fans, the match entered its third and deciding set. This time around, Rafa managed to take a huge lead as he went 3-1 against the Brit. Murray tried to catch up, but Nadal maintained his two game lead until
5-3. Just when the fans thought it was all over, Murray bounced back to not only tie the score at 5-5, but take the decider into a tiebreaker. Murray rushed to take the lead in the tiebreaker going three points up and maintained the lead until 4-1. However,
Rafa bounced back at this point catching up with the Brit without a loss of any point. Winning two points each, the score was tied until 6-6. Rafa caught a break at the thirteenth point and winning the next two points won the second tiebreaker of the match.
The final match score was 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-6(6).
Nonetheless, the Brit put up a good fight with twenty aces as opposed to Nadal’s five. He also lost a smaller percentage of points as compared to Rafa on service. However, in the end this just was not enough, as Rafa emerged victorious
in three hours and eleven minutes. Murray ends the season with two Masters title, a final appearance at the Australian Open and a win-loss mark of 44-17.
Talking to the press post-match, Nadal said, "It was a very good match. I want to congratulate Andy for his attitude. He is having a great career. He's going to win a lot of Grand Slams in my opinion. It was a difficult position
for me. Andy came back well. He had an amazing passing shot. In the tie-break the only thing I could do was wait for chances.” Kudos to the world number one to be humble in victory!
Rafa moves into the final where he will face either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic depending on the result of the second semi final.
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