wimbledon nadal

Rafael Nadal’s much-hyped match against Andy Murray at Wimbledon didn’t disappoint. Unless, that is, you live in Great Britain. The wait for a men’s Grand Slam champion continues after Nadal advanced 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-4. Seventy-four depressing years.

In a fourth Wimbledon final in as many tries since 2006, Nadal faces Tomas Berdych. Berdych followed up his victory over Roger Federer by easing past a disappointing Novak Djokovic 6-3, 7-6 (9), 6-3.

It all looked so bleak for Nadal in the third round. He had to come back from two sets to one down, again, and complained of knee discomfort.

The world No. 1 got what he wanted in the fourth round, an easy encounter, and his confidence soared after topping baseline-bashing Swede Robin Soderling Knowing he needed to be flawless against Murray, he was. Nadal, beaten fair and square by Murray at the Australian Open, won all the pivotal points and was nearly flawless on serve. No wonder he owns seven majors.
Nadal grabbed his chance to achieve the set’s only break of serve when Murray sent a lame forehand wide which had the fourth seed beating his fist into his arm in frustration.

Murray dropped just two points on his serve and was the better player in a riveting second set but again he was left to rue a couple of crucial moments.

Nadal was 15-40 down on serve in the eighth game but Murray was distracted by a mobile phone ring to net a forehand then Nadal fended off the second break point with a dipping forehand angled across the tramlines.

The tension was suffocating in the tiebreak and it seemed to have got to Nadal when he double-faulted at 5-5 to give Murray a point to level the match