Rafael Nadal met British hope Andy Murray in the semi-finals for the second successive year. He conceded a set to Murray for the first time but was able to prevail in four 5-7 6-2 6-2 6-4.
Andy Murray started the proceedings placing his first serve to the backhand of Nadal which he could not return. The second serve also was to the back hand and Murray moved in to volley a winner. The third serve was an ace to the forehand. All the three first serves went in. The fourth serve was again an ace to the forehand. The pattern was clear. Murray was playing the game of Australian Open 2010 when he had overpowered Nadal before the latter retired hurt.
Nadal played four points on his first service game. He won the first three through rally and the last one through an ace.
In the second game, Murray continued going to the net at the first opportunity, but suddenly one heard that he has called for the trainer. The trainer came but there was no treatment given. The crowd was made aware that Murray is not in cent percent shape. There was no trace of movement getting affected outwardly. Both were making each other run from corner to corner. Few shots were sent to the middle of the court.
Murray had already hit four aces by the third service game. He started exploring the forehand corner of Nadal and got a point there to close the fifth game. Murray was serving above 70% which enabled him to ride through his service games with ease. Since he was always one or two points in credit, he was able to play a few risky shots. In the eleventh game, Nadal failed to convert the break points he earned and it was Murray’s turn in the next game to earn break points which would be set points. He earned a triple break point by aggressive play. Nadal capitulated on the second and Murray had taken a set from Nadal for the first time in Wimbledon semi-final.
Murray started playing his best game, controlling aggression with precision. Crowd roar must have been tearing through Nadal’s ear drums. His game went down a bit. Murray started winning the ground rallies. A double fault at 30-30 in the fifth game gave a break point to Nadal and Nadal got the break when Murray overhead missed the baseline. A drop shot attempted at 30-30 in the seventh game gave another break point to Nadal. This time again Nadal did nothing much to win it since Murray backhand went into the net. With such costly gifts, Nadal had no option except to oblige by serving out the set 6-2 with loss of just one point. Murray had truly led Nadal back in the match.
Murray appeared to be playing to avoid the criticism that he is not aggressive in the big matches rather than to win the point. An aggressive second serve went out and Nadal got a double break point. Murray regained poise and served an ace to save the second break point. Murray played two aggressive shots to see both sailing out of lines and gave a service break to Nadal in the very first game. Another break came Nadal’s way in the seventh game. He now had to serve out the third set at 5-2. He committed a double fault on the first set point but duly converted the second one to go up 2-1 in the match. What changes will Murray attempt to change the course of the match was to be seen in the fourth set.
Uncontrolled aggression continued in Murray’s game and he lost his very first service game. He was trying to play a Djokovic, which is not his natural game. But his normal game was not succeeding too since Nadal was making few unforced errors. It was not clear to Murray nor to any of the thousands of spectators as to what should be done to stop Nadal juggernaut. The main problem was that Nadal was playing at his best. Murray tried to play at 125% and committed two consecutive double faults in his second service game. Fortunately, his aggression paid of there and he did not lose that game. Murray raised his level in the fourth game and did not let Nadal win his serve for nine minutes. But ultimately Nadal was able to prevail. Murray was going for the broke and succeeding here and there. Nadal remained on course and got his first match point on a double fault from Murray. Murray saved it with an ace. Nadal had the difficult task of serving for the match with Murray determined not to let him do it. Nadal prevailed on the third match point, 6-4.
It was a day when Murray threw everything he could at Nadal and yet came short. There was no shame in losing to the best player playing at his best. Nadal moves into the dream finals on Sunday where number one will clash with another number one for the title.
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