Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal took the suspense out of what looked to be exciting quarterfinal matchups in Monte-Carlo. Murray crushed Milos Raonic and Nadal cruised past Stan Wawrinka to set up a semifinal showdown on Saturday.
Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal will be doing battle for the 23rd time in their careers when they collide in the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Saturday afternoon.
Nadal is dominating the head-to-head series 16-6, including 6-1 on clay and 2-0 in Monte-Carlo. He beat Murray 6-2, 7-6(4) in the semis of this tournament in 2009 and again in the final four via a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 decision in 2011. Murray managed to win their most recent clay-court contest 6-3, 6-2 in the 2015 Madrid final, but Nadal had no trouble prevailing 6-4, 6-1 at the World Tour Finals last fall.
The Spaniard has won only two clay-court titles since the 2014 French Open–none at the Masters 1000 level. With Nadal having slumped earlier this season while Novak Djokovic positively rolled through the rest of the tour, it looked as if the world No. 5 would be hard-pressed to pick up another title even on his favorite surface. But Nadal has to be considered the favorite in Monte-Carlo at this point given his own stellar play and Djokovic’s early exit at the hands of Jiri Vesely. The eight-time champion booked his spot in the semis by defeating Aljaz Bedene, Dominic Thiem, and Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.
Murray is in the midst of a much-needed productive week after falling early in Indian Wells (to Federico Delbonis in the third round) and Miami (to Grigor Dimitrov, also in the third round). The second-ranked Scot needed three sets to get past both Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Benoit Paire, even trailing Paire by a set and a double-break in the second before storming back for a 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory.
On second life in Monte-Carlo, Murray picked up the pace to hammer Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-0 on Friday. He faced zero break points and solved the Raonic serve an impressive five times to coast in one hour and six minutes.
“Obviously I had a couple tough weeks in Indian Wells and Miami, and I haven’t played loads of tennis since Australia,” the No. 2 seed reflected. “The first couple matches here were tough matches; didn’t play particularly well. I’m just happy I managed to fight through them and now I feel a little bit more relaxed about where my game’s at.”
Murray interview:
Murray’s performance against Raonic was encouraging, but the Canadian struggled through that affair at visibly less than 100 percent. Nadal, of course, is a much different beast than Herbert, Paire, and–on this surface–even than a healthy Raonic. The last time he faced Nadal, Murray’s mind was on clay (for the Davis Cup final against Belgium). This time, Murray will actually be on clay. Neither recipe is a good one.
Pick: Nadal in 2
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Ace! YESSSSSSSS!! That 15-40 situation animated Rafa!
Murray complaining about time but he’s 27 seconds average lol.
same as match at wtf then!! murray went on and on but was over himself…
THIS is the game to really open up his shoulders and go for his shots!
Bravo! That was cool!
He is certainly playing better now. More energy
That was some unreal defending from both! Rafa’s flick was just toooo damn good
VAMOS GOAT!!!
can’t see anything sigh….haven’t been able to see any of last few games…
He listens and punishes a murray second serve for a winner! that gave me satisfaction
please keep brilliant commentary coming vr..
can’t see anything now…
SEE THAT! Rafa hit a massive ROS and Andy hits a double fault on the same side on the very next serve!
will he serve it out??? predictions?
no thanks…you know this is going to be nerve-wracking..
lol…he did that so easily ;D
Decent length for Rafa , Andy tried to hit a deep forehand DTL and missed
Aggressive backhand CC opened up the court, this was followed by a sizzling forehand inside in and then BOOM , forehand smash!
Mike w APRIL 16, 2016 AT 12:34 PM
Murray will finish this in 2 let’s face it, Rafa ain’t doing it today buddy
Rafa takes the 2nd set 64!
What were you saying again?
Very confident finish! Nice surprise! VAMOSSSSSSSSSS
cool…..
hooray!! still can’t see anything!!
shades of rome 2014!!
you were right vr!!
I really hope he wins this now! Rafa will feel extremely satisfied and so will we.
The level of tennis was really good in set 2…
Rafa needs to resume his improved hitting and beware that Andy will hit back harder.
me too vr!! please continue with brilliant commentary as can’t see anything…
rafa and vr are the best!!!
lol! cheers!
Mike W’s silence is deafening.
can rafa win the third set ? I was not able to watch the second 🙁
yes
Now Murray is complaining about TV. Despicable!
you really don’t like your countryman, haha.
More to the point, I like Rafa 🙂
loose opening two points from Murray! CAPitALIZE ON THIS RAFA