Andy Murray faces a straight shoot-out with Stan Wawrinka for a place in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
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Murray noticed a significant improvement in Nadal’s play from when he was struggling so badly earlier in the year, but also felt he contributed to his own downfall against the former world number one.
Speaking after the match, the Dunblane ace said: “I think that he was hitting the ball extremely well today from the back of the court”.
When the losses were coming thick and fast earlier this year, Rafael Nadal resembled a man tormented – what had always come so naturally, he now had to think about. I starting to play a little bit better the middle of the first set. “Also I didn’t help myself out there”, Murray explained.
“The couple of matches, first couple of matches he played here against [Stan] Wawrinka and Murray showed that, showed that he feels more confident, shows that he’s starting to miss less, serve efficiently, use his forehand much better”. After mainly winning most of his matches on clay, Nadal has looked strong on hardcourt. I didn’t start well but I started to find my game.
Nadal created seven break points in the first as Murray’s first-serve percentage waned – it can be low, but 45% is lower than normal – although the 28-year-old had his chances, too. Immediately after his tournament, Andy and his brother Jamie fly out to Belgium to attempt to bring the Davis Cup back to Britain for the first time since 1936.
Nadal hit 70 per cent of his backhands cross court to Murray’s passive forehand, which accumulated only three winners, while committing 12 unforced errors in this primary baseline pattern of play. With the momentum well and truly with Wawrinka, the Swiss broke in the first game of the second set to seize the initiative.
Nadal isn’t into revenge – he has made that clear before – but topping the Scot in the English capital, where Murray has won Wimbledon and an Olympic gold medal, is sure to boost his morale further.
Jamie Murray and John Peers had five match points before losing 6-7, 7-6, 16-14 to Americans Bob and Mike Bryan, ensuring they were knocked out of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
In the Stan Smith group, Roger Federer won both his matches to clinch a spot in the semifinals.
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Predictably the Belgians are preparing a slow indoor claycourt to try and blunt the world number two, whereas the court inside London’s O2 Arena is a medium-paced blue hardcourt that requires different shots and movement.
