Wimbledon 2010 - Rafael Nadal expected to win final against Tomas Berdych
Rafael Nadal displayed one of his best performances in the semi-finals against Britain’s Andy Murray on Friday. Nadal ended Murray’s hope of qualifying for his first Wimbledon final as Nadal won the semi-final in straight sets 6-4, 7-6, and 6-4 at Centre Court and proved to the world, why he is called the world number one player in the world. Since 1938, no British player has been able to win the Wimbledon Championships till date and Andy Murray failed to change that stat.
The Spaniard faced some tough competition in the second set as Murray played some amazing and stunning shots in Centre Court. Nadal, who was the winner of the 2008 Wimbledon title, was unable to defend his title in 2009 due to an injury. He is now looking keen to retain his title. The Spaniard, with the win over Murray extended his winning streak to 13 matches at Wimbledon and has reached his fourth consecutive final. With this defeat, Murray missed his chance of qualifying for Wimbledon’s final for a second time in a row. Murray gave tough competition to the Spaniard as he displayed some breathtaking shots. The Centre Court crowd were joined in the second semi-finals match by David Beckham as the star footballer came to support the Scot in his journey to the finals.
As the match started, Nadal lost no time and started dominating the first set of the match. The Spaniard played some heavy forehand and ground stokes all around the court. However Murray was quick in his movements and responded well to Nadal’s shots but was not able to keep the momentum going for a long time and eventually failed. Nadal won the opening game of the first set and took an early lead over the Scot. Murray later capitalized and levelled the set at 2-2. In game nine, Nadal received a chance to wind up the set which he later did after 37 minutes by winning the first set 6-4. The second set of the match proved to be a tough one for both the players as they showed their best performance in the match. Murray held the serve early in the second set and put up some impressive serving on the court. The 23-year-old Scot won the opening two games of the first set which the Spaniard levelled later in the game. The Spaniard tried his best to break Murray but failed to do so in every attempt. The match continued in its pace and at last, Murray received his first break point of the day at 4-3 in game eight. The opportunity was soon taken away from him as Nadal got out of trouble after hitting some heavy forehand volleys followed by a backhand winner.
The match became more intense as both the players were fighting for glory. At last, the final moment came as Nadal won the set after Murray double faulted and gave an opportunity to the Spaniard who immediately took it and sealed the set with a victory. The third set of the match was essential for Murray to win in order to stay in the match. The British number one started the third set with utmost ease and won the first two games of the set. Nadal on the other hand faced some problems in the start but later capitalized and levelled the score at 4-4. From there on, Nadal never looked back and totally dominated the court. The Briton tried to keep up in the match and score but he couldn’t and failed on all of his tries. Nadal ended the third set by winning and quashing Murray’s hope of reaching a Wimbledon final with a heavy forehand shot near the edge of the line.
Nadal is hoping to win his eighth Grand Slam Championship this year and his second Wimbledon title in his career. The Spaniard will face Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych in Sunday’s final.
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