Rafael Nadal vs Andy Murray – Semi-final Preview: US Open 2011
It all has come down to the top-4 tennis stars now, as the US Open enters the semi-final draws after two days of interruption of rain. World number two, Rafael Nadal of Spain, will take on the fourth ranked Briton, Andy Murray,
in the second semi-final of a Grand Slam tournament for the third time in the running year.
The highly anticipated contest will be staged on the glorious Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, of Queens, New York City, United States, with the winner getting a
berth in the final of the last Grand Slam tournament of the current year.
Seeded at number two in the tournament, Nadal is the only contestant to have reached the semi-final draws without losing a single set in the initial rounds. The defending champion has displayed belligerence for yet another time
to annihilate every single competitor he faced in straight sets en route to the round of four.
The Spaniard outplayed Andrey Golubev, Nicolas Mahut, David Nalbandian and Gilles Muller in the opening four rounds to reach the quarters. He blew away the former US Open champion, 21st seed Andy Roddick of the United
States, in quarter-final matchup, settling the final scores at 6-2, 6-1, 6-3, to charge into the semis.
Murray’s run at the US Open has also been a brilliant one so far. Apart from a hiccup in the second round match against Robin Haase, the Briton has displayed his magnificent hard-court tennis skills to make a berth in the last
four. He had a stiff contest with the 28th seed local contestant, John Isner in the quarter-finals but eventually bagged victory at 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2), to book a date with Nadal in the semi-final of a major tournament for the third consecutive
time in a row this year.
The belligerent Spaniard leads the all-time head-to-head series against the British number one by 12-4, with two most recent victories in the semi-finals of Roland Garros and the Wimbledon Championships. Nadal is running a 58-10
winning record for the running ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season and has three singles titles to his name already.
“[Murray] is a fantastic player on all the surfaces and it will be a very tough match for me and hopefully for him, too,” said Nadal after qualifying for the semis. “I’m very happy about this US Open. I will try my best to be in
the final. But even if I lose tomorrow, I am happy about my US Open. It wasn’t an easy situation for me coming to this tournament after having a not easy summer for me.”
Both men have faced each other in the semi-finals on nine different occasions, with Nadal winning seven of them and Murray bagging victory on just two occurrences. The defending champion is the hot favourite for winning the contest
on Saturday but Murray won’t be an easy competitor to take down.
“Tomorrow I have to play aggressive, I have to play my best tennis,” Nadal revealed his strategy for the Saturday’s match. “It will be a very tough match for me and hopefully for him, too.”
The contest appears evenly poised but with a blistering form and an impressive past record, Nadal is certainly the player to bid on for the semi-final encounter.
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