It will be a rematch of the 2015 Madrid final when Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal square off during semifinal action on Saturday. They winner will go up against either Novak Djokovic or Kei Nishikori for the title.
Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray will be facing each other for the 24th time in their careers when they clash in the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open on Saturday afternoon.
Nadal is dominating the head-to-head series 17-6, including 8-1 on clay. Murray’s lone victory on the red stuff, however, came last spring in the title match of this same Madrid event (the Scot triumphed 6-3, 6-2). Still, Nadal has won four of their last five encounters after most recently prevailing 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the Monte-Carlo semis.
It is safe to say this is not the Nadal whom Murray defeated in last year’s final. The fifth-ranked Spaniard dug himself out of a prolonged slump by restoring order to his old stomping grounds in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. Nadal followed up his recent win over Murray by beating Gael Monfils for the Monte-Carlo title and he came back out the next week to steamroll through Barcelona without dropping a single set. So far in Madrid the 14-time major champion has fought past Andrey Kuznetsov, Sam Querrey, and Joao Sousa, donating one set to Sousa in the process.
Murray’s title defense got off to a bit of a rocky start when he surrendered a set to Radek Stepanek in round two, but the second seed promptly destroyed both Gilles Simon and Tomas Berdych. He is now 16-4 for the season and in confident form on clay after struggling in both Indian Wells and Miami.
“Andy played the semifinals in Monte-Carlo, winning good matches, and was close to beating me,” Nadal reflected. “Last year he won [this title], so he knows how to play very well here. That’s a great level that he’s playing. He’s a player that can win against everybody.”
Murray certainly has the capability of picking up a win on Saturday, but life would be easier on him with a closed roof. Such was the unfortunate case for Nadal against Sousa, who bounced back from a first-set bagel to steal the second amidst indoor conditions after the roof was shut because of rain. Rain is not in the Madrid forecast again until Sunday. This should be another competitive Murray-Nadal contest, but the four-time champion is likely to raise his level with one of the toughest opponents on the other side of the net.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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Drop shot not working well..as in, not crossing the net.
Confident first point! good serve, good forehand and an excellent smash
Rafa avg time between points: 29 sec
Murray’s is 25 sec
come on rafa..put your foot on the gas…
0-30 ! Come on Rafa!
Murray’s backhand leaking errors for the first time in the match. GO FOR THE BREAK RAFA!
Trying to do more on the second serve return and sends it long and wide with his forehand :/
Now Murray throws in a good first serve for deuce
You can’t be missing second serve returns on break points’. He lost the chance! Murray raced away after that. This set is gone
SIGH. what a let off for murray. the mistakes on second serve returns on break points especially are all too reminiscent of last year with nerves getting the upper hand
He’s mostly been doing that for the last three years.
#Anxiety
Flawless service game from Nadal! perfect.
5-3! Now, give it your all in this game Rafa! Murray, please keep the first sreve % low
WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOREHAND MISS! WHYYYY RAFA WHYY?!!
vamos!!! VINTAGE RAFA! turning defense into attack !
Loose backhand from Muzz! 15-40! BREAK PLEASSSEEEEE
He gets so tight when having a break point :/ it is the opposite when facing break points
Thanks for the live coverage VR.
No tv coverage for me today. Maybe a good thing.
Halfa Rafa is tiresome and sad to watch.
am in same situation hawks..
gr8 if depressing updates from vr as always..
would have liked to listen to your view too, Hawkeye.
It is not exactly Halfa Rafa, but three-fourth Rafa . Lol
The only encouraging thing is that apart from one service break, all his service holds have been very easy
YEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Did Rafa earn it or did muzz choke?
On the BP, Muzz choked…
that’s very obliging of him..more of the same please…
Figured as much. Happy to miss this one by the sounds of it.
RT @BenRothenberg: Not a brilliant set of tennis from either, to say the least, but back on serve. Crowd wills Nadal to a break, *4-5. #MMOPEN2016
so he has broken?? vamos!!!
Long exchange, Murray set up a backhand , went for it DTL and missed it wide
Rafa counterpunching well but always was on the defense in that point…Murray too good.
Rafa’s backhand has too much air. and, TIME VIOLATION WARNING!
Carlos only does that so he can nail Rafa later like he did last time they played.
Never in doubt.
Rafa will likely get broken now and choke away the set.
Murray nets a forehand CC…Rafa’s backhand is not too bad in terms of length but it is being hit with too much air. He has been doing this all week…no penetration.
VAMOS! Awesome serving! As I said before the match, Rafa is targeting that wide serve on the deuce court more frequently this week! That serve has really helped him today. Nice variation. And the new position on ad court also working well so far
Killer backhand CC drop shot from Murray… 15-0
Rafa MUST get more penetration on his shots!