Andy Murray v Rafael Nadal in Wimbledon semis
After flying under the radar in the early stages of Wimbledon this year, Andy Murray is now firmly back-page material as hopes grow in Britain that they may have a home-grown champion at the All England Club this year.
They are hopes that, if Murray can defeat Rafael Nadal in his semi-final match, will surely reach fever pitch now that his Grand Slam final nemesis Roger Federer is out of contention. Indeed if Murray, who was reduced to tears after losing the Australian Open final to Federer at the start of the year, does go on to win the title, a “thank you” note to Tomas Berdych may well be in order.
Defeating Nadal, however, is the task at hand and while it’s perhaps a less daunting prospect for the fourth seed than facing Federer, it’s still one of the toughest challenges in tennis.
“I don't care whether he's [Federer] in and out of the tournament,” Murray said as he turns his attention to his match against the second seed. “Doesn't affect me unless I win the next round. So, you know, I'm playing the No. 1 player in the world in the next round, so it would be a bit silly for me to look past him in any way.”
Nadal, the 2008 Wimbledon champion, will enter this semi-final seeking his 13th consecutive match victory in SW19 after missing out on the chance to defend his title last year due to a recurrence of knee tendinitis.
And while the world No. 1 may have started slowly against Robin Soderling in their quarter-final match, when Nadal did find his rhythm, he ultimately turned in a commanding performance to claim a four set victory over his fellow French Open finalist.
“Is a dream another time be in the semi-finals here,” Nadal told the media after defeating the Swede. “I know I gonna have difficult match against Andy in semi-finals, but I am ready to try my best and for try for sure to be in this final. Is gonna be difficult, but I am playing well.”
“Playing well” may be an understatement when it comes to describing Nadal’s form since the beginning of the clay-court season, where he emerged undefeated in three Masters 1000 tournaments and at Roland Garros. If the left-hander can defeat Murray and go on to win Wimbledon, it will mean he’s lost just once (in the quarter-finals at the Queen’s Club) since the beginning of April.
It’s a stark contrast to the indifferent form Murray had showed since losing the Australian Open final, but since arriving at Wimbledon, the British No. 1 has been back to a level somewhere akin to the one that took him to the deciding match at Melbourne Park.
In five matches at the All England Club so far, however, Murray’s counterpunching game has been at its best and, importantly, for a player who gains more plaudits for his ability to return others’ serve than for his own, the 23-year-old’s serve has so far also been holding up, as it will have to do if he’s to have a chance of combating Nadal’s much more aggressive brand of tennis in his next match.
Nadal will enter the match with a 7-3 winning record over Murray, but perhaps more importantly, when it comes to the record between this pair at the majors, each has won two of the four matches they’ve played – although Nadal won on the only previous occasion they’ve played one another at Wimbledon, in the 2008 quarter-finals. The French Open champion then went on to win the tournament.
Murray though has the most recent victory over Nadal at a Grand Slam, in the Australian Open quarter-finals this year (where he was leading 6-3, 7-6(2), 3-0 when a knee injury forced the defending champion to retire).
Those past results and the form the pair have shown in SW19 so far all points to what should be an evenly matched semi-final between a player hungry to increase his collection of Grand Slam titles and a player eager to win his first.
For one of them, however, that dream will end here.
Prediction: Murray will step on court with the vast bulk of the centre court crowd cheering him on to victory, and they just might get their wish. The local hope in five sets.
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