Come 2015, and he won not just his first clay title in Munich but also the Madrid Masters, beating Rafael Nadal in straights sets in the final.
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Victory capped a stunning week for Nadal, who has struggled for form since taking seven months out because of a knee injury, and withdrawing from last month’s Miami Open due to a virus.
By the end of Saturday’s match, won 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 by Nadal – who will face Gael Monfils in Sunday’s final – Murray had been involved in a heated exchange of words with chair umpire Damien Dumusois, and accused of having “no respect” for the official. Wawrinka said. “When you don’t play well and you’re not in your match, it can bother you”.
Three consecutive breaks of service for 4-4 testified to the gathering chaos in the second set, but when Nadal held to love for 5-4, he began to resemble the Rafa of old.
Even as he was on the brink of defeat, consulting his notes one last time at what proved to be the final changeover, Murray could not let it go.
Rafael Nadal made an emphatic statement for the clay court season by winning his first Masters series event since 2014. His last finals appearance here was in 2013 when he lost to Novak Djokovic. Nadal defeated Andy Murray in three sets, as corrected predicted by me.
Nadal now owns 68 titles and will carry on in the run-up to the French Open with renewed confidence; Monfils can take small consolation after winning his first-ever set against Nadal on clay.
Nine minutes it took the Spaniard to seal that last game, but win it he did, 6-1, after two and three-quarter hours.
At times it seemed Monfils could cause a big upset, hitting superb winners from incredible angles and with brutal strength.
The semi-final brought together the top two doubles players in the world and it was Murray who prevailed alongside Brazilian Soares against former number one Melo and his Croatian partner Dodig.
But he will need to sort out his serve.
He got the win after 2 hours, 44 minutes when Murray’s forehand swipe on the run failed to clear the net, improving to 17-6 in career meetings against Murray and 7-1 on clay. Unloading a barrage of baseline shots in a wild 33-shot rally, Nadal could not crack his opponent’s defense.
“But the beginning of the match and the second set was a good match”.
The first two sets were very back-and-forth between two fierce competitors; the third set was anything but.
Murray dominated on his serve throughout the first set, but the Spanish fifth seed broke Murray at the start of the second set to regain momentum.
Murray fell away in the third set, dropping serve twice and getting involved in an extended argument with the umpire.
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Monfils broke Nadal to take an early 2-1 lead in the second, but the Spaniard broke back to level at 4-4 before Monfils wrestled back the initiative to take the set.
