Monte-Carlo Masters: Andy Murray vs Rafael Nadal – Semi-final Preview
World Number 1 Rafael Nadal will be facing Andy Murray of Britain in the second semi-final on Saturday at the 2011 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Series, in a match which will pitch the third seed against the defending champion and
King of Clay.
The British top player set up this meeting with Rafael “Rafa” Nadal after defeating Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 in his quarterfinal at Monte Carlo. The player seemed pleased with his performance,
saying, “It was good, I played very well today in tricky conditions.” Rafael Nadal, on the other hand, undid Croatian tennis pro Ivan Ljubicic in his quarterfinal match. The Spanish tennis pro has only lost one match in the history of his Monte Carlo runs.
Andy Murray seemed to realize the monumental challenge which he will be facing in this match, saying, “He (Rafael Nadal) is incredibly difficult to beat on clay but you need to believe you can win. I always really enjoy playing
Rafa – it’s going to be a big test.”
As far as head to head records go, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal stand at 9-4 for Nadal. This is not too poor a record, mostly because Rafael Nadal has won multiple Grand Slam titles while Murray is yet to snag his first Major.
All four of Andy Murray’s victories against Nadal have been on hard courts, however, while Nadal has defeated Andy Murray in both of the matches the two players have played on clay courts. Both victories were straight-sets wins.
Their last clay meeting was in this tournament, at the 2009 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo tournament. Although Murray managed to force a tiebreaker in the second set of this match, he could not compete against Rafa’s
clay skills and went down in straight sets. Despite the fact that Nadal was in poor form at that time, and lost his first and only Monte Carlo match in the third round of the tournament, Murray did not pose a threat for the player.
Their last meeting was at the 2010 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which mark the end of the tennis season for the Association of Tennis Professionals. The two players met in the semi-final of the tournament, and Nadal managed
to defeat Murray in straight sets. However, the British pro took the second set of the match 6-3.
According to live reporter Jonathon Overend, Murray may be suffering from an arm injury in the match today. This will definitely affect his performance, and most spectators have already picked the defending champion as the winner
for this match.
The semi-final victor will proceed to the title match of the tournament, where he will meet David Ferrer of Spain.
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