Rafael Nadal vs. Andy Murray – French Open 2011: Semi-final Preview
Race to glory enters its last stages at the 2011 Roland Garros and the world number one, Rafael Nadal of Spain, takes on the fourth seed, Andy Murray of Great Britain, in the semi-final draws on Friday. The contest will be staged
at the Court Philippe Chatrier in Paris, France, with the winner getting a title shot at the prestigious French Open trophy.
The defending champion, Nadal, has been in prime form throughout the tournament and registered five assertive victories on the trot to reach the semi-final of the Grand Slam event. The top seed had a shaky start in his opening
match against John Isner, who almost ended Nadal’s voyage at Roland Garros in the very first match, but the Spaniard hung on to snatch victory from his opponent in the end.
Nadal then got into his rhythm in the following round matches and devastated his opponents in straight sets to reach the last four. He outplayed the world number five, Robin Soderling of Sweden, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(3), in the quarter-final
clash to meet Murray in the semi-finals of Roland Garros.
The fourth ranked Briton was also scared by defeat in the fourth round, when the 15th seed Viktor Troicki of Serbia reeled the opening sets to push him out of the contest. Murray made a tremendous comeback to clinch
the following three sets and then carried on his winning momentum to uproot the Argentine opponent, Juan Ignacio Chela, 7-6(2), 7-5, 6-2, in the quarter-final to book a date with Nadal in the semis.
24-year-old Murray has been in decent form so far this season but has failed to bag any ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) singles title. The Briton had a blistering start to the running ATP season and got under lime light
when he beat all the odds to reach the final of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open in January. Unfortunately Murray fell to the reigning world number two, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, in the final and then took a layoff from the
professional tennis out of dejection of defeat.
Murray has been consistent with reaching the quarter-finals and semi-finals of tournaments but tend to lose his focus in the big matches. He has faced Nadal seven times in the semi-finals of ATP tournament and stood victorious
only twice; once in 2008 US Open and then in the Toronto Masters last year, losing all the other encounters against the top ranked Spaniard. Nadal leads the all-time head-to-head record against the Briton 10-4 and is running a consecutive match winning streak
of two against Murray.
Although Nadal and Murray have never faced each other one-on-one in the French Open so far, both men have encountered on clay courts on three prior occasions. The ‘King of Clay’, Nadal, outclassed Murray on all the three occasions,
depicting that the Briton stands no chance against him on the red surface.
No doubt the Spaniard is reckoned to be the most lethal opponent on clay surface, but the potentials of Murray are not to be underestimated. The Briton has got all the skills to outplay any top class player in the world and can
be very dangerous on his day. Nadal has already won two clay-court titles this year and it is highly anticipated that Rafa will go on to defend his French Open title with authority.
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