Rafael Nadal of Spain defeated Andy Murray of Great Britain, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4, to reach the final round of the French Open Friday, giving him a chance to win a sixth crown at Roland Garros. 
Powering the ball into the deepest corners and countering Murray’s controlled pace, Nadal broke his opponent’s serve six times en route to the victory, his 11th in 15 matches against the scrambling Scotsman and his fourth on clay.
Murray, seeded fourth, managed to break Nadal’s serve only three times. He hit 35 winners, one less than Nadal.
The semifinal victory by Nadal, seeded first, gives Nadal an opportunity to match Bjorn Borg’s record six championship titles between 1974 and 1981.
After 3 hours 14 minutes on court, Nadal steps to the line to serve for the set. He doesn’t waste time, as befits a winner who wants to finish off his opponent. His first winning point is an overhead smash into a corner. His next is a slashing backhand passing shot that accelerates past Murray at net. His third point is a baseline-corner-to-baseline-corner shot that splits the court. Murray smacks a backhand into the net. Nadal jumps, walks to net, nods to Murray, then turns and lifts his arms to the sky. Patience, power, persistence paid off.
On Sunday, Nadal will face the winner of the match between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
If John Isner of Tampa, Fla., is watching, there must be the flicker of a smile crossing his face about now. The American, who played college tennis at the University of Georgia, is the only opponent in this French Open to have won a set off Nadal. He won two, in the first round, and the match seemed to suggest that Nadal was vulnerable. False logic there. Isner was formidable and Nadal, a stalwart competitor, won a tough match. Now, Nadal’s putting the experience to good use today against Murray, whose serve isn’t quite as fast as Isner’s, but whose skill set is formidable, too. Just not enough, it seems, to derail a speeding express train. Patience of the kind Nadal needed against Isner is paying off. Murray hits a forehand into the net and trails, 5-3.
There’s an old saying in tennis, don’t run that far and not win the point. In the fifth game of the set, Nadal had a chance to change calamity into conquest. Murray hit a wicked cross-court drop shot, feathering the ball across the net at an almost impossible angle. Nadal raced forward to retrieve, blocked a return up the line, which Murray immediately popped into a lob. Nadal turned his back to the net and then looked over his shoulder for the ball. When he saw it, he slapped it with a backhand volley. It was a bit weak. Murray saw it coming back and hit the ball in Nadal’s direction, which was okay, because the swift-footed Spaniard misjudged the shot and sent it into the net.
For Nadal, it had been a long run for a lean result. Nadal won redemption later in the game, staving off three break points and racing to the net on a weak Murray lob. His running overhead smash would have made Pete Sampras proud.
Obtained by: John Martin
Filed under: Sports Betting, Sports Contest, Sports Events, Sports News Tagged: | Roland Garros, Tennis
