Rafael Nadal smashed British hopes of having someone in the final of the men's singles at Wimbledon for the first time since 1938 when he overcame the loss of the first set to defeat Andy Murray 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 in a minute under three hours. In the final Nadal will face Novak Djokovic who earlier in the day had replaced the Spaniard as world No.1 by winning his semi-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
It was a classic performance by the 25-year-old defending champion. He was guilty of a mere seven unforced errors, compared to Murray's 39 and double-faulted only once. His only glitch was the dropped service game which cost him that first set. For the rest, it was Nadal all the way as Murray disintegrated in the second and third sets in the face of relentless pressure.
With five-time Wimbledon champion Bjorn Borg among the Royal Box guests, Murray had started brightly in Centre Court late afternoon sunshine. A massive cheer greeted the first point, a service winner for Murray, and the Scot threw in a couple of aces to make the crowd even happier. But there was a buzz of disbelief as a physio suddenly appeared on court after the third game and talked to Murray about his thigh condition, a slight injury suffered during his quarter-final win over Feliciano Lopez. At the next change of ends, with Murray ahead 3-2 after a love service game and another ace, the trainer reappeared but Murray waved him away.
Murray seemed in rude health, though. He held serve with ease, zeroing in on the (comparatively) weaker Nadal backhand side to keep the Spaniard away from his lethal forehand. The tennis was lacking in zest, rather than quality, it being apparent that both men were fully aware of what was at stake. Then, after Murray had moved 6-5 ahead by holding serve in the first deuce game of the match, the crowd erupted as Nadal, the invincible one, suddenly found himself in trouble. Two overhit shots saw him go 30-love behind on serve and as Murray charged the net on the next point Rafa sent a backhand lob into the tramlines. Three set points to Murray. He needed only one as Nadal netted a backhand. So the fourth seed was one set up after 54 minutes.
So excellently had Murray played up to that point that what happened next was a distinct shock. Murray, so accurate and so positive in that first set, suddenly fell apart at 2-1 up in the second set when he missed an easy forehand that would have given him two break points. Nadal managed to hold and in the following game a Murray double-fault offered Nadal his first break point, which turned out to be all he needed since Murray sent a smash yards too long. From that moment, a 3-2 lead, Nadal marched through the next three games, breaking serve again when, facing another break point, Murray opted to go for a drop shot and netted it. When Nadal wrapped up the second set in 36 minutes to level the match he had committed only four unforced errors. Murray's count was 20.
The British malaise continued at the start of the third set. Murray was broken for the third straight time on a forehand error and Nadal extended his streak of successive games to seven before the Scot finally managed to hold to love. Though Murray was still producing the occasional miracle shot he was overwhelmed late in the third set. Nadal moved to 4-2 with three successive aces and then broke serve again with a stunning forehand pass. He even enjoyed a slice of luck when, at set point, his winning shot was helped on its way by a net cord. It was another 36-minute massacre of British hopes.
Things got gloomier for Murray at the start of the fourth set when he was broken for a fifth time. A marvellous retrieval by Nadal earned him break point and a demoralised Murray sent a poor forehand into the netting. To his credit, the Scot did his best to mount some sort of recovery in the face of this unrelenting assault and in the fourth game he managed a break point with a forehand which left Nadal in an unusual place for him, stranded at the net. When, inevitably, Nadal saved the break, Murray hurled his cap to the ground in disgust, but he promptly earned another break point on that rarity, a Nadal error. Nadal saved that one, too, forcing Murray to net a running forehand. That crucial game lasted nine minutes before Nadal captured it to dash Murray hopes of a revival.
At 5-3, on the Murray serve, Nadal reached match point, only to see the No.4 seed save it with his 15th ace. That was enough to require Nadal to serve out for a place in the final, which he did comfortably. Murray fended off another match point with a backhand volley but on the next one it was all over as another Spanish forehand piledriver clipped the sideline.
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