The Spanish Rafael Nadal defeated the British Andy Murray, number two in the world, 6-4 and 6-1, in one hour and 31 minutes, on Wednesday, and put a foot and a half in the semifinals of the London Masters.
Nadal, who last Monday, on the opening day, beat Stanislas Wawrinka, fourth racket in the ranking, 6-3, 6-2, will be mathematically classified for the next round if tonight the Swiss can beat David Ferrer (20: 00 GMT) or if the Spaniard, on the other hand, achieves victory in three sets.
The winner of 14 ‘greats’, a finalist in the British capital in 2010 and 2013, sought to avenge the defeat in the final of the Masters 1,000 in Madrid in May against a Murray who, despite beating Ferrer on Monday, has his mind set on the Davis Cup final at the end of the month.
Nadal warned in recent days that, despite the fact that the surface of the O2 Arena pavilion was not his favorite, he was feeling well and looking forward to it. Today, against the second tennis player in the ranking, the Spaniard showed that he has regained that confidence that he lacked in the first months of the season.
Acclaimed by a packed pavilion filled with ‘Union Jack’ and Scottish flags and banners bearing the slogan ‘Come on, Andy’, the local idol began the match by breaking serve at Spanish, but he returned the coin in the second game.
The serve didn’t seem to work for either of them (Andy’s 46 percent and Rafa’s 47 percent), so both measured each other, sure, from the back of the court.
Under the watchful eye of John McEnroe and Mats Wilander, Nadal closed out the first set, which lasted until 57 minutes, with a backhand volley after breaking the Scot to love.
The winner of 14 ‘majors’ kept up the pace in the second set against an excessively erratic Murray (13 unforced errors in the first set and 16 in the second) and managed to take a comfortable lead of three games to nil.
Nadal broke again in the sixth game to go up 5-1 and thus close the match with his serve. And it did not fail; Thanks to a right cross to the receiving field, he certified his second victory in as many games in the British tournament.
The Spaniard, who has only yielded ten games in two games – against the number two and number four in the world – thus puts a foot and a half in the semifinals of the Masters. You can secure your qualification tonight.
“I think I played very well. There is no specific tactic to beat Murray, you just have to do it right. I didn’t make too many mistakes and I’m happy with it. I am working hard to play games like this”, said an euphoric Nadal after the game, who will face his compatriot David Ferrer next Friday. EFE
Nadal puts a foot and a half in the semifinals of the Masters
