Nadal drives Murray bananas

Whatever weakness he might theoretically be feeling was not immediately detectable to the human eye. Before this match began the statisticians were shouting loudly that the Spaniard had surrendered five sets already, more than he had previously yielded to reach any Grand Slam final, whereas Murray had let just one escape him. From such facts hope springs. Unfortunately, when it's Nadal on court, hope later learns its lesson and goes home again.

Heavy was the burden Andy Murray brought on court today. As 12 months ago when he reached the last four here for the first time, he was bidding to become the first home player to reach the Wimbledon final in 72 years. Presumably it will be no comfort to him that he did well to reach the penultimate hurdle again, given that he came in to this tournament with scant form since his January defeat by Roger Federer in the Australian Open final. There were long periods of this match where Murray was the better player, during which he won more points overall than his opponent. But he will only gain so much consolation from that, given that the first two sets hinged almost entirely on a handful of big points, and these were the moments were Murray could not outplay Nadal. The Scot did have his chances, but he did not take them.

He will not, for example, recall with any joy his set point on his own serve in the second set tie-break - especially bearing in mind this was not a set point won by his own cunning, but unexpectedly gifted him by a Nadal double fault. Murray not only failed to deliver his first serve but was not even attempting an ace at the time. A weak second serve set up the rally for Nadal's convenience. By contrast, when the No.2 seed had his chance, he conjured up a couple of killer forehands to seal it. Having yielded far fewer errors and just as many winners as Nadal throughout the set, Murray had nonetheless lost it. Little wonder he hurled his racket to the turf, where it bounced eight feet in the air before landing on the baseline.

Coming back from two sets against Nadal is a mountain for any man to climb. The mental encumbrance, after losing the first set in similarly disappointing circumstances, was too much. The first set went well for a good while, both players producing high quality stuff. But at 4-4 when Murray double faulted for 30-all, Nadal pounced on the moment by reading Murray's next delivery beautifully and then picking up a volley to send past him. Next point Murray sent a forehand wide and all his good work was undone. Nadal stuttered momentarily when closing out the set, only for Murray to oblige him with a forehand which he knew was all wrong the moment it left his racket. He uttered a cry of disgust.

He did well to force the break at the start of the third but that mountain still looked huge. At 3-4 he suddenly looked tired, as if at the very thought of the task facing him, and when Nadal broke back it was clear the end was near. It came at the first opportunity, courtesy of a Murray volley sent long. The 2008 champion - still unbeaten here for three years, thanks to his inability to defend his title 12 months ago through injury - greeted his victory in the style he usually reserves for a Championship moment, falling back on the ground with his clenched fists over his head, eyes closed. The 2010 title is not yet his. But he is one step nearer, and Murray will feel he is as far away as ever from defying British history at Wimbledon.

Source: wimbledon.org