Match report

Rafael Nadal © Tennistalk.com
US Open
Semi final
9/7/08 1 2 3 4 Tot
es  Rafael Nadal 2 6 6 4 1
gb  Andy Murray 6 7 4 6 3
Andy Murray © Tennistalk.com

  • Andy Murray dazzles, sails into first Grand Slam final

    9/8/08 5:51 AM | Cheryl Murray
    In a match that spanned two days and the remnants of Hurricane Hanna, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray battled each other for the right to compete against Roger Federer in the final.

    When the rains came on Saturday, world number one Rafael Nadal was down two sets to love to Briton Andy Murray. For the first two sets of the match, Murray completely outplayed Nadal. The Scot’s return of serve was on fire and Nadal’s second serve was exceptionally vulnerable. Murray secured the first set with a double break.

    Nadal pushed the second set to a tiebreak, but he was outplayed throughout that entire set as well. It was a testament to Nadal’s force of will to make a match of it that he was able to hold serve six times. Nadal began to play a bit better in the tiebreak, and kept up with Murray until 5-5. An unforced error from Nadal set up set point, which Murray converted.

    The Spaniard raised his level again in the third set. He broke Murray in his first service game and held onto that break until 3-2, when the rain started. Play was canceled for the day, and the two were forced to resume on Sunday afternoon at the time when the men’s final was scheduled to be played. Nadal had a few scares in the third as he attempted to hold onto his first lead of the match, but he finally closed out the set at 6-4.

    Murray continued to apply the pressure in the fourth. He kicked off the set with a hold of serve, though Nadal had a break chance. In Nadal’s next service game, he got in a 15-40 hole, but managed to claw his way to deuce. The Scot would miss another five break chances before Nadal finally held serve. The missed opportunities seemed to affect Murray; Nadal broke him at love to go up a break. The crowd began to hope for a fifth set, but it was not to be. After going up 30-0 at 3-2, Nadal proceeded to gift the break back to Murray. Another break at 4-5 gave Murray his first ever win over Rafael Nadal and his first Grand Slam final. He will play world number 2 Roger Federer.

    Nadal says fatigue was a factor in his semi-final.


    Nadal is happy overall with his tournament.

    Nadal is looking forward to an exciting Open final - even if he is not in it.

  • Thumbs up

    Tactically brilliant match from Murray, perhaps the best I've ever seen him play.

  • Thumbs down

    Nadal looked exhausted for the majority of the match.

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Comments

Congrats Andy! :-D Good luck in the final tomorrow! Now Rafa can go home and try to recover. Davis Cup Semis are right around the corner...

RafaNadalGirl20 , 9/8/08 6:50 AM



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