However, the contest will be taking place on a surface that is Nadal’s least favored and one that Djokovic has been utterly dominant on.
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Nadal will take on world number one Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
After the defeat, the Great Britain captain will now focus on Great Britain’s Davis Cup final against Belgium next weekend in Ghent. I didn’t find it hard not thinking about the Davis Cup Final, to be honest. “I have injuries last year; this year I didn’t have no more injury”.
Wawrinka added: “It’s an fantastic tournament to play”.
But fatigue is unlikely to be a factor, not with just two matches left in the tournament year, and so big a prize awaiting the victor. He has at-times this week looked disinterested and there is no telling if memories of last year’s match will haunt or motivate him. “This year I have been more anxious about myself than the opponents for a lot of matches”, he said.
The haircut did not seem to have the desired effect though, because despite his hairstyle change, Murray lost the first set 6-4, and proceeded to lose to Nadal in straight sets (6-4 6-1).
The set then came down to a tiebreaker, in which Wawrinka reeled off the last five points to overcome a 4-2 deficit.
An agitated Murray spent the changeover deep in discussion with an official and proceeded to drop his opening service game of the second set. I made one other error at the end of the set as well.
Wawrinka now goes through to a rematch of last year’s dramatic encounter with compatriot Roger Federer, which ended in acrimony after Federer’s wife Mirka heckled Wawrinka with the now infamous taunt of “cry baby”.
Intriguingly, Murray’s support camp were not sat courtside but higher up in the stands.
In their place, arena staff members occupied two seats in an otherwise empty box. Is there something up with Team Murray?
I suspect it’ll either be a routine win for Federer, which makes the 2-0 at [2.0] or the -3.5 games at around the same price the wagers of interest, or a really tight one, as it was a year ago here.
Nadal’s recent upturn hasn’t gone unnoticed by Djokovic.
The world number four spent two hours 37 minutes on court and has a short turnaround before returning to play the Serb at 14:00 GMT on Saturday.
Nadal’s rebirth at the O2 Arena – a venue that was never a stronghold for him in the past – has been the best story of the week.
For with all the permutations that become possible in a round-robin format between the best eight players in the world, it is a rare and exciting occasion indeed for qualification into the semis to come down to a knock-out bout, and in the very last match of the round-robin phase. But I think, you know, nearly every player goes through that at a few stage during their career.
“I’m well. When you are coming after a tough period and suddenly you feel better then you feel fresh”, he said.
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The Friday night crowd was lively and, at break point down, Wawrinka wanted another first serve after being distracted by an ill-timed shout.
