Rafael Nadal undoes Andy Murray in semi-final; moves into sixth final here – French Open 2011
Reigning world number one, Rafael Nadal from Spain moved into his sixth final at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France on Friday, June 3rd after successfully undoing top Brit Andy Murray in straight sets in their semi-final match today.
The Spaniard took almost three hours and thirty minutes to clinch a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory over the Brit.
In their fifteenth meeting on courts – eighth in semi-finals, the Spaniard leads the head-to-head 10-4 holding a two match winning streak over the Brit. Their last meeting on clay had come last month when the two met for their semi-final match at the Monte Carlo Masters in April, with the Spaniard surviving a mid match lapse to emerge victorious.
A phenomenon here, Nadal started strong against the Brit as he put himself on the scoreboard at 1-1 in the second game. A forehand down the line from Rafa and an error from Murray on deuce, gave Nadal the lucky break as he led the score 2-1. Another break later in the fifth game, Rafa had managed to secure a 4-1 lead, extending it to 5-1 on his serve. Although Murray managed to again make it to the scoreboard in the eighth game, he needed a lot more to survive the match. Reducing the deficit, the Brit now trailed 3-5 after surviving long rallies and forcing errors on the Spaniard.
After successfully saving two breakpoints on deuces, Rafa was finally able to clinch the set 6-4 as Murray hit a forehand into the net. Taking almost seventy minutes, Rafa won only four more points than the Brit to go one up in the set score. Even though the Brit won a higher percentage on his first serve, it was his high count of unforced errors that lost him the set.
Matching blow for blow in the second set, each pro held their own serves to keep the score tied for six games. With almost thirteen minutes in the seventh game after several deuces and long rallies, Nadal was finally able to strike two winners down the line to clinch the lucky break and the lead 4-3. However, Murray once more brought the set to even terms as he broke back in the eighth game. The scoreboard continued to tick on even terms for the next four games as neither player could dominate the other one.
Rafa caught another lucky break in the eleventh game as he broke Murray on deuce with a combination of a winner down the line and a errant backhand from Murray. Serving for the set at 6-5, Nadal comfortably clinched a 7-5 victory without losing a single point to lead the set score 2-0.
Maintaining his dominance over the Brit in the third set, Rafa rushed to an early 2-0 lead as he succeeded in breaking Murray in the second game. From there on the set continued on even terms as both players held onto their serves comfortably. Serving for the set at 5-4, Rafa forced an error on Murray at 40-0 to clinch the set 6-4 and in effect seal his straight sets victory.
A defending champion here, Rafa moves on ahead to his final hurdle where he’ll play Swiss maestro Roger Federer or Serbian juggernaut Novak Djokovic.
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