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.

Robson Ruffles Wimbledon Feathers

In recent years the phrase 'plucky Brit' has been one of the cliches synonymous with Wimbleon and it may seem slightly insulting to seventeen year old Laura Robson after she threw off her world ranking of 254 to give Maria Sharapova one hell of a ride.

The match finished in straight sets, 7-6 6-3, in the favour of the Russian but the real show was the home player carving out a memory that will inspire her as she continues her career.

For a player who has spent a fair part of the year out with injury and split from her coach Patrick Mouratoglou just prior to the tournament you could forgive the youngster for being slightly out of touch, even after beating Angelique Kerber in the first round, not to mention the fact that she was facing up to the world number 6, but her first set performance was outstanding and pushed her more illustrious opponent to the brink.

After one marathon game first up Robson took Sharapova's opening service game on her third break point, though two consecutive double faults did hand the game over on a platter. She then extended her lead to 3-0 and then 4-1 but Sharapova began to grow into the match, pulling back to 4-2 despite failing to land a legal first serve in one entire game. Two further games later, one of which was a break back, it was 4-4 but London based Robson held her nerve to take the set to a tie break and, despite leading 4-2 at one point, it was Sharapova who won five points out of five to take it 7-4.

As the second set started and Sharapova went 2-0 up Robson's form could have easily dropped off but she kept plugging away and even though she was broken three times by the ever more imposing Sharapova, who at one point broke and held consecutive games to love, there were two breaks going her own way and at the end of the match, after a shaking of hands, there was none of the potential embarrassment that may have been nagging at the back of the mind as Robson tried to get to sleep the night before.

This was only the second appearance of the year for the Brit on the WTA tour, her third match in a grand slam and a first occasion on a show court and the pressure of facing a former Wimbledon champion, ranked a full 248 places higher in the world standings, was positively soaked up and regurgitated into strong stroke play on both sides while her sliced, left-handed serving had Sharapova's backhand in a great deal of trouble early on, something that the 24 year old alluded to when she spoke after the match.

"Laura started off so well, going for her shots and serving well. I couldn't get too many looks on the first serve but I hung on in there and started to play better. It's understandable the crowd is on her side, she's young and moving up the rankings so they should be behind her."

But Robson is still just seventeen and playing on the ITF challenger circuit, as she continues to develop as a player and move into WTA events her tactical mind and match fitness will continue to grow and, even with the in form Heather Watson currently ahead of her in the rankings, she has proved that she may still be the most exciting female Britain out on court for the foreseeable future.

As for Sharapova, the bookies favourite for this years championship, it was a stern test of her metal. Robson's quick start clearly got into her head as she began to slow down the time taken between points, trying to get back into the mental battle that was being played out. After picking out her opponents serve in the second set there shouldn't have been a great deal of trouble for the fifth seed but for her poor serving which lacked the verve required to test the worlds top players that she will no doubt go on to meet as the tournament progresses.

In the fourth round Sharapova will face off against Klara Zakopalova, the world number 35, who knocked out the 31st seed Lucie Safarova in an all Czech encounter. The pair have only met once before, way back in 2003, when it was Zakopalova who came out on top at the Australian open, though that match was far from where they are now, both players ranked well outside the top 100 at that point.

The only other British woman left in the tournament also fell at the second round, Ukrainian born Elena Baltacha losing out to China's Shuai Peng 4-6 6-2 7-5.

Unstretched Murray Progresses At Wimbledon

There were no dramas on Wimbledon's No. 1 court as Andy Murray never broke sweat in a comfortable 6-3 6-3 7-5 victory over Germany's Tobias Kamke.

There were occasional flashes of talent from the spirited German but he never really pushed the fourth seed beyond his means, failing to take the only chance he had at a break point. Murray never broke sweat in the first set as he took the game straight to his opponent, breaking Kamke in both the first and last games. The second was much tighter in it's early stages, Murray saving a break point at 3-3 before winning three straight games to once again take the set with a 6-3 scoreline.

In what would turn out to be the final set of the match both players held firm in their service games before the breakthrough finally went the way of the Scot, taking the eleventh game off Kamke's serve before holding his own to stroll into the third round.

Though Murray's first serve percentage dropped to a measly 54 he was invariably dominant and when he got it right at the first time of asking he took 84% of the points as Kamke never imposed himself on Murray's serve, something the Scot was well aware of when he spoke to the BBC afterwards.

"I served well, but the rest of my game needs some work. He was hitting the ball flat so it was hard to get into a rhythm. I need to use my legs better, get in the right positions for the ball."

Indeed, though Murray's final victory was comfortable he failed to get himself out of second gear, not that he particularly needed to. There was no free flowing, extravagant stroke play, little flair and no impression was made as to why the Rolland Garros semi-finalist should be a true challenger for the SW19 title. He will, no doubt, have to step up his game when he takes on his next opponent, the 6'4" Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, winner today in straight sets against Sergiy Stakhovsky.

The pair have met six times previously with the current record standing at three wins apiece, Ljubicic taking the last victory 6-3 6-2 on the hard courts in Beijing last year. Five of the six meetings, in fact, have been on hard courts, the other being on carpet, meaning that this will be their first face off on grass as well as their first in grand slam tennis.

One of the most notable things about Murray's appearance was the fact that his match was scheduled on Court 1, no favouritism being shown to Britain's only remaining male by the tournament schedulers, and if it weren't for the rain holding itself back as the afternoon progressed it could have been that Murray may have had to make a return to action tomorrow as opposed to playing under the Centre Court roof until the curtailment of his game today.

The change of territory was taken in Murray's stride, however, though he did note the slight difference from his usual surroundings.

"It's a little bit different on Court One", said the Queens Club champion, "It's very open, so the sun is more of a factor."

The Scot's relegation to the 11,500 seater second court came as even more of a surprise when the order of play was released, the main event on centre being the clash between eighth seed Andy Roddick and Romanian Victor Hanescu, ranked back at 63 in the ATP standings.

At the end of the day the British number 1 will be delighted to progress into the next round having once again had the chance to test himself on the grass courts while not having a great deal of wind taken out of his sails.