Rafael Nadal moved to 2-0 in the Ilie Nastase Group at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, needing just 92 minutes to defeat Andy Murray 6-4, 6-1 on Wednesday.
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Murray fell to Nadal 6-4,6-1 in the group stage match and can now only qualify for the semi-final of the tournament if he defeats Stan Wawrinka in his next group match on Friday.
“He obviously played better than he did when I played him earlier in the year”, said Murray. “I was enjoying on court”.
“When I don’t think about how to hit the ball, but when I think just about where to hit the ball, that’s good news”.
Nadal broke Murray at the 10th game to win the first set, and then again early in the second set to take control and finally seal the victory.
Wawrinka, who went on to play a key role in helping Switzerland win the trophy for the first time, said: “Maybe he’s going to feel more relaxed, no pressure, go for it more – or maybe he’s not going to be completely here”.
“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”.
During the summer, the 30-year-old Nadal didn’t go deep in the hard courts, but in the fall, he began to turn it around.
So Murray was fuming British No. 2 Aljaz Bedene had been sent to Prague and back to argue that he should be eligible for the final – having previously represented his native Slovenia – only to have the worldwide Tennis Federation tell him they were not ready to hear his case.
“I think he always is at the big events”. But I didnt really help myself.
Ferrer led 4-1 after consolidating a service break, but he failed to convert a set point when serving at 5-3 and then double-faulted a few points later to allow Wawrinka to get back on serve. The key was in the first set. Although I got broke in the second game, it was a good game.
If both players are mentally and physically in the zone, Murray versus Wawrinka promises to be quite a contest.
In the other group, Roger Federer has already qualified for the semi-finals, while world number one Novak Djokovic needs to beat Tomas Berdych in his last round-robin match on Thursday.
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Wawrinka, who acknowledges he played appallingly against Nadal but improved markedly in beating David Ferrer on Wednesday, has won six of 14 matches against Murray, including the last two.
