Wimbledon 2010: Nadal through to the finals
The sun was shining bright on Centre Court but the light at the end of the tunnel for Britain seemed dim. Their star was on the court for the second consecutive year, hoping to change history this time around. Fred Perry was the last British man to win Wimbledon some seventy two years ago. Even though British players over the years have the home court advantage, none of them has ever given the home crowd anything to cheer about. Murray came out on Centre Court this afternoon, looking to turn a new page in the history of men’s tennis. The road ahead for Murray would be full of obstacles as he faced the lion of men’s tennis, Rafael Nadal. Nadal has been on fire ever since his return and has let nothing come in the way of victory. It was an epic duel that became a sight for sore eyes.
The grassy mound outside Centre Court, formerly known as Henman Hill was crowded with Murray fans, and those lucky enough to hold Centre Court tickets took their seats to pray for victory. However, it looked as if Murray’s home court advantage may have turned into an extra load too heavy for his shoulders to sustain. Murray had an almost flawless route to the semi-finals, losing just one set on the way that too in the quarterfinals against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Compared to this route, all other seeds were made to suffer, playing marathon five sets during the course of the championships. In fact, Rafael Nadal was made to play out two five set matches back to back. This was the comfort in the back of Murray’s mind that he had more reserve energy stored in him for the big matches. However, the power of Nadal could not be underestimated. The last time Murray played a semi-final on the Centre Court, he lost to the eventual finalist, but this time he was hoping that luck would be on his side.
The first set began on serve, with each player clinging on to their points with ease. It was a close set till the ninth game when Nadal whipped a powerful forehand to create a breakpoint opportunity for himself. Murray rallied Nadal to save the break point, but with Murray’s forehand going long, Nadal went up 5-4. Committing just one unforced error in the entire set, Nadal picked up the first set with ease 6-4 in just thirty seven minutes.
Murray knew that if he had to stay in the game, he had to win the second set. However, the Scot committed far too many errors and worse yet could not convert any of the chances gifted to him. On the other hand Nadal was quick to take advantage of any opening he saw. In fact this was the major difference between the two players that ultimately cost Murray dearly. Murray played well in the opening three games of the second set, not dropping a single point. However, the issue was that he could not create any opening on Nadal’s serve either; thereby they were on serve in the second set. There was a chance for Murray to break at 3-4, but Nadal’s forehand approach shot denied the Scot any chance. Thus the fate of the second set was to be decided in a tie break. The tiebreak was evidence of the disparity between the quality of tennis of the two players. Murray was gifted a set point chance due to an untimely double fault by Nadal, but an error on his first serve cost him the only chance. Nadal was quick to pick up on Murray’s errors and sealed the second set with some killer blows from his forehand.
From here on it was going to be an uphill task for Murray. Being two sets down against Nadal was pretty much game over. Murray’s frustration was evident as he hurled his racquet on the grass court. He knew his time at Wimbledon was about to come to an end. Murray did manage to take the first game of the third set of Nadal’s serve, but a seemingly tired looking Murray could not sustain the break. Soon Nadal broke Murray and won his forty sixth match of the year. He fell to the ground soon after Murray drove a backhand long. He knew his second Wimbledon title was within sight.
The Duke of York was in the Royal Box waiting for a miracle to happen. However, he must have returned disappointed as all of Britain. However, Spain had much to celebrate as Nadal reached his tenth major final. This win makes it thirteen consecutive wins for Nadal at the All England Club; can he continue that streak and make it fourteen? The answer will be revealed on Sunday afternoon.
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