Andy Murray stuns top seeded Rafael Nadal to clinch title win – Tokyo Open 2011
Gunning for the third spot in the ATP rankings, second seeded British Andy Murray upset top seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal after making an epic comeback from a set down to register a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory at the Rakuten Japan Open
Tennis Championships 2011, an ATP World Tour 500 series event held on the outdoor hard courts in Koto, Tokyo, Japan. After earning this two hour and sixteen minutes victory, the Scot clinched his fourth title of the season on Sunday.
Currently ranked 4th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour rankings, Murray proved his class after earning a bagel in the final set against the world number two, Nadal through his exquisite performance on their
eighteenth encounter. He not only avenged his defeat at the US Open semi-finals this year but also shelved his fourth title of the season. The Britain’s star also lowered the trail in the head-to-head series by 5-13 against Nadal.
"For sure in the third set it was some of the best tennis I’ve played against him. I was very consistent, didn’t make too many mistakes and kept a cool head in the important moments," beaming Murray said.
The Mallorca native Nadal thundered into the opening set and wiped out opening three games in a row after earning the first blood in the second game. He then kept remaining serves with his superb defensive skills to clinch the
opener with a 6-3 score line.
Murray raised the bar of his game in the second set and after earning the coveted break in the fourth game, he eventually went 4-1 up. The Scot fended off all four breakpoints faced and after converting another breakpoint chance
to his advantage in the last game, he sealed the equaliser with a 6-2 win.
The high flying Murray went berserk in the final set and after bombarding powerful groundstrokes, he reeled off all six games in a row to earn a bagel.
The British number one clobbered a lower first serve share of 61 percent as compared to Nadal’s 69 percent but registered a spectacular 79 percent win on it. He further mustered the match by hammering six aces, defending five out
of six breakpoints faced and cashing in on five out of nine breakpoint opportunities to his advantage.
“He played unbelievable, he didn’t make any mistakes in the third set,” Nadal praised the Scot. “He played very aggressive and made no mistakes. When you are playing someone at that level, the only way is to try and get more free
points on serve and for me it was impossible today because his return was very impressive.”
24-year-old came fresh off form winning a title at Bangkok and after earning this success, he improved his record of winning twenty-one matches out of twenty-two played. Murray also defeated world number one Novak Djokovic at the
Western and South Open in Cincinnati in August and the only loss was against Nadal in the US Open. The fourth title he clinched was at the AEGON Championships in London.
Tags: