We managed to find a nice [3.0] victor with Andy Murray toppling Rafael Nadal in the semi-final of the Mutua Madrid Open on Saturday and the Scot’s reward for beating the erstwhile King of Clay is another clash with nemesis Novak Djokovic.
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“The beginning of the second set in Monte Carlo, he came out and really raised his intensity, and I didn’t”, said Murray.
And despite losing out after an epic final game – where Djokovic survived six deuces and seven break points to hold for the match – Murray was pleased with another good week of work on clay.
Sunday’s defeat leaves him tied in points with Federer for the No 2 ranking, but behind on the tiebreakers.
Djokovic has now won 29 Masters 1000 events, this latest triumph ensuring he reclaimed the outright record from Rafael Nadal, and boasts five tournament victories in 2016. “That was the most pleasant thing for me, because I’ve only played maybe three or four indoor clay matches in my life”.
Djokovic had won all of the three previous meetings between the two on this surface and he raced out of the blocks again as he broke Murray in his first service game and then swiftly moved into a 4-1 advantage. He beat Nadal in last year’s Madrid final.
“It’s been a positive week for me this week overal l- a few years ago I wouldn’t have thought I’d be winning against Rafa and then pushing Novak this close on a clay court”.
Djokovic won the first set 6-2 but Murray pushed the match into the decider when he hit back in the next set 6-3.
After Murray had again fought back from 2-0 down, Djokovic broke him again at 3-2 with another stunning backhand victor down the line.
The Serb collected his fifth title of 2016 after winning the Qatar Open, Indian Wells, the Miami Open and the Australian Open, in which he also defeated Murray in the final. Murray became the first player ever to beat Nadal at the same clay tournament in back-to-back years. Djokovic, though, has stressed that he is more than aware of the threat Murray poses in Sunday’s final at the Caja Majica.
But the world No 1 could not keep up the blistering pace and Murray finally got his first break points in the fourth game of the second set.
ANDY MURRAY will defend his Madrid Open title this evening against Novak Djokovic.
“I don’t know if I’m playing better this year than I was last year”, Murray said, “or the match I played today, how much better it was than the final last year”.
“I think it’s big”, Murray said quietly.
“I have total confidence that all my rivals are totally clean”, he said.
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“It was a tough challenge against Andy – the match could have gone a different way if I had dropped my serve at 5-3”, Djokovic acknowledged.
