Nadal Rises To The Occasion As Murray Falls

Britain's long wait for so much as a mens singles runner-up at Wimbledon will have to wait at least another year as Rafael Nadal came from a set down to blow Andy Murray away in four on centre court at The Championships.

Pre-match Nadal had said that if one player other than himself was to win a grand slam then he would want it to be Murray, just not this one, and no one could argue with him today, not least the Scot himself.

And yet it started so well.

Murray came out and looked supremely confident, serving two aces and winning a serve and volley point in the very first game and he continued to be aggressive throughout the first set, going toe-to-toe with the world number one. Both players held their own serve until Murray went 6-5 up and holding three set points the watching crowd smelt an upset, and that was just what they got, Murray breaking the Spaniard at the second attempt and securing the set.

The second set continued to follow very much the same pattern and in the fourth game Nadal could only hit a looping shot, the ball bouncing no more than two feet away from the net giving the home favourite a chance at two break points, but alas, he hit what should have been a simple put away long and, from then on, he totally fell apart.

The very next game Murray's serve looked shaky and a double fault gave his opponent a break point that was duly converted by the Scot on Nadal's behalf, hitting a close range shot the wrong side of the baseline. Two games later there were more mistakes off the Murray racket as Nadal broke once again before seeing out the set 6-2 on his own serve.

With Murray on the wane it didn't take long for the defending champion to take the lead, stepping up a gear and breaking the fourth seed first up in the third set thanks to yet another error from the Briton. That was Nadal's sixth consecutive game and his third break in a row, a point from which he never looked back, landing another body blow with the break in the seventh game thanks to a wonderful whipped forehand before finishing things off to take a one set lead.

Murray's confidence was clearly sapped but what was most noticable was the seeming lack of anger that is so commonly accreditted to the 24 year old. It was quite disheartening for his fans both within the confines of Centre Court and the other millions across the world watching on TV. After once again being broken in the very first game of set four, he was limping to the exit door without so much as a whimper.

There was a revival of sorts in the fourth game as Murray twice held advantage over the tournament favourite, throwing away both his opportunities at the break but with that the fire seemed to return, Murray was shouting at himself and the box that contained his entourage of family and friends. By then, though, Nadal was in full flow and there was no stopping him as he won on his second match point, thrashing a forehand past Murray's right and setting himself up for a final against Novak Djokovic, a man who will rise to the head of the world rankings no matter what the results of Sunday's final may be.

After the match Nadal had kind words to say about the opponent he felled while also expressing his delight at reaching his fifth Wimbledon final.

"For me, it's a dream to be back in the final." Said Nadal, "I'm very happy. I feel sad for Murray, I think he deserves to be in this final too. I wish him all the best for the rest of the year. He's a great champion and the only way to beat him is to be really aggressive and play some fantastic shots."

"He was playing fantastic at the beginning, but he made a mistake at the beginning of the second set and that was one of the turning points of the match."

When pressed about his encounter with Djokovic in the final the Roland Garros winner noted how tough a match it would be.

"It's always tough to play against Novak [Djokovic], he's playing fantastic this year and has only been beaten once. I've lost four times already against him but I will try my best, as always."

With Djokovic in the form of his life and Nadal looking comfortable right the way through the tournament Sunday's final should prove to be a classic that, hopefully, will put the shortcomings of British tennis to the back of everyones mind, for now at least.