MURRAY REACHES QUARTERS BUT FALLS TO ALL-CONQUERING NADAL

 

 

The last time Andy Murray made the second week at Wimbledon before this year was back in '06. He wound up playing against Marcos Baghdatis in the fourth round. '06 was the Cypriot's big year and he managed to catch Andy on an off day, the Scot losing 3-6 4-6 6-7(2-7). For a second week Brit win at Wimbledon, you had to go back to '04 when Henman was our main man. Tim faced Mark Philipousis in the fourth round and beat the quality Aussie 6-2 7-5 6-7(3-7) 7-6(7-5). However his run ended when he faced Mario Ancic in the quarter finals. In theory Philipousis was the better player, in practice, Henman lost 6-7(5-7) 4-6 2-6, a come down from a run of semi finals he had earlier in his career.

This time in the fourth round the 12th seeded Murray faced the 8th seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet on Centre Court. The first set was fairly tight but Gasquet seemed to have the edge and sure enough, eventually broke Andy's serve just in time to win the set. That seemed to fire up the Frenchman though and he went 3-0 up with Andy never looking like breaking serve, and so went two sets down. The Scotsman stepped up a gear in the third but Gasquet still broke serve at 5-4 which meant he was serving for the match when out of nowhere, Murray finally broke serve. That fired up the fans, which fired up Murray to force and win a tiebreak. Game still on and that was just for starters. Gasquet was left begging to the umpire for mercy in the fourth set. He found none and got blitzed by Murray to set up a fifth. The Frenchman stepped up a gear in the final set. Murray broke immediately and Gasquet was never able to catch up. Finally with light fading, Murray won what has to be the best match of his career 5-7 3-6 7-6(7-3) 6-2 6-4.

Elsewhere, the match of the round from a neutral's perspective was probably the one between Roger Federer and Leyton Hewitt. The Aussie never looked like turning the clock back after the first set and the current world number 1 won 7-6(9-7) 6-2 6-4. Rafael Nadal was the other main man to watch out for and he saw off Russian 17th seed Mikhail Yousenhy 6-3 6-3 6-1. Marat Safin continued his great run for a non-seed, beating Swiss 13th seed Stainlaus Wawrinka 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-1. The only other fourth round match involving two seeds was between Marcos Baghdatis (10th seed this year) and Spanish 31st seed Feliciano Lopez with Lopez winning that one 5-7 6-2 3-6 7-6(7-4) 8-6.

Next up was Andy Murray's first ever Grand Slam quarter final. Slight problem, he's facing Rafael Nadal on Centre Court. Murray held serve in the first set till 3-3 but never looked like he was firing on all cylinders and sure enough, Nadal won the set. The Spaniard proceded to just cruise through the second set with Murray not looking like he was in the contest at all. Andy stepped up a gear in the third but still couldn't do anything on the Nadal serve and fell 3-6 2-6 4-6. There was only really one guy in this match and the fact that some Brits in the crowd were backing Nadal wouldn't have helped. Still, it's going to be a lesson learned. This surely won't be the last Wimbledon quarter final of Andy Murray's career.

Elsewhere, Federer cruised past Croatia's Mario Ancic 6-1 7-5 6-4 in one of the more predictable results of the round. The fourth seed that reached the semi finals was Lopez, and he was beaten by Safin who continued his run by winning 3-6 7-5 7-6(7-1) 6-3 to leave only two seeds left standing for the semi finals. The final quarter final involved German Rainer Schuttler facing France's Arnaut Clement and the German won 6-3 5-7 7-6(8-6) 6-7(7-9) 8-6 in a match that lasted for over five hours! So it was down to the last four with Federer vs Safin looking like the better of the two semis while Nadal faced Schuttler in what looked like a non-contest.

In the first semi between Federer and Safin it didn't take long for the reigning champion to show the unseeded Russian who da man was, breaking immediately and though the Russian took the second set to a tiebreak and put up a fight in the third, Federer won 6-3 7-6(7-3) 6-4. The second semi saw Nadal facing Schuttler and sure enough the German proved to be no threat whatsoever. Nadal blew his opponent apart in the first set, and though Schuttler broke serve in the second, Nadal came back to force a tiebreak, which he won. Nadal then broke early in the third and after that it was game set match. Nadal won 6-1 7-6(7-3) 6-4 and it was the second Federer vs Nadal final in a row.

Before that though, was the women's final, between Venus and Serena Williams. Neither sister had been particularly highly seeded but turned out to be the last two standing. The first set was a tight affair with both sisters breaking serve and Venus only just edging it. The second set was more straightforward with Venus having the edge and winning the match 7-5 7-3 to collect her second title in a row. It had been the first time in three attempts(the previous one in '03) that she had beaten her sister in a Wimbledon final and though it was a wierd experience for them, it must be something they're semi-used to be now, even if their Dad felt the need to get on an early plane home.

 

Then came the big surprise of the tournament. A Brit in a singles final! 14 year old Laura Robson was in the girls singles(under 18s) final and faced Thailand's Noppawan Lertcheewakarn. Serve turned out to be completely unreliable at this level but it was Robson that held out to win the first set. The second set looked to be similar before a Lertcheewakarn surge took the match to a second set. However Robson came back to dominate the deciding set and won the match 6-3 3-6 6-1, making her the first Brit to win the girls' singles title since Annabel Croft in 1984! However, though Robson is likely to progress to the women's competition next year, we have to bear in mind that Croft didn't go on to do much at the highest level and ended the 80s as a game show host! Britain may or may not have a top quality female player on it's hands for the first time in a generation!

 

So that just left the final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Neither side looked to give an inch but Nadal broke at the second time of asking to take the first set. Federer started the second set by going up 3-0 which became 4-1 before Nadal surged back to put the defending champion on the brink. There were no breaks of serve in the third but Nadal was leading 5-4 when the rain came down(it had to come sometime) and when it resumed Federer was in a comeback mood and the crowd, happy to see more tennis, cheered him to a tiebreak and then the forcing of a fourth set! The fourth set had the same pattern as the third, deadlocked till the end and when the tiebreak came Federer took the glory despite being at Nadal's mercy late on! This meant a fifth set and still neither man could break serve! Mum couldn't handle the tension but it was the Nadal serve that always looked unbreakable and it was he that won(after a second rain delay) 6-4 6-4 6-7(5-7) 6-7(8-10) 9-7 to become the first Spanish Wimbledon champion since 1966!

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