Murray hopes crushed as Nadal scales new heights
Britain’s dream of a home-grown Wimbledon champion was rudely awoken last night when second seed Rafael Nadal mercilessly dispatched Andy Murray in straight sets.
British No1 Murray looked jaded from Monday’s epic five-set comeback against Richard Gasquet and was no match for Nadal, who swept into the semi finals 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
The Scot, playing in his first Grand Slam quarter-final, was never in contention, failing to force a single break point and winning just 10 points on Nadal’s serve in the entire match.
The Spanish world No2, on the other hand, demonstrated vast improvement on what has traditionally been his least favourite surface and now looks destined for another titanic final against five-time champion Roger Federer.
“He played so much better than me,” said Murray. “I don’t feel I played my best, but regardless he was playing too well for me. If he plays like that and returns like that, he’s very close to being favourite for the title.”
Despite looking sluggish, 12th seed Murray refused to blame fatigue and admitted he had simply encountered a formidable opponent in the grass court form of his life.
“His forehand was ridiculous,” Murray added. “He was hitting the ball so close to the line. I didn’t feel like my legs were all that heavy. That had absolutely no bearing on the result at all.”
Although the margin of defeat was emphatic, Murray was far from disgraced. Better players than him have been more comprehensively beaten by Nadal – not least Federer – and the Dunblane-born 21-year-old will savour his best Wimbledon campaign yet.
Like the sunshine, British hopes lasted longer than expected this year in SW19, well into the second week. But, inevitably, the rain finally fell on Centre Court yesterday afternoon, and the covers never came off Murray’s chances of an upset.
A missed smash handed Nadal the decisive break in the first set, and a double fault gave the relentless Spaniard an early advantage in the second, which he soon wrapped up.
The odds of another heroic comeback, of the sort that beat Gasquet, lengthened with the evening shadows, and by the start of the third set even the self-assured Scot looked resigned to defeat.
Murray earned one last cheer when, a break down, he passed Nadal to force him to serve out the victory. But it was only a stay of execution, and Nadal duly clinched a place in the last four, to play Rainer Schuettler or Arnaud Clement, who resume today at one set each last night.