The only lower-seeded player to win his first World Tour Finals round-robin match has a chance to take control of Group Ilie Nastase when Rafael Nadal returns to action again on Wednesday. Up next for Nadal is Andy Murray.
Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal will take 1-0 World Tour Finals records with them into their 22nd career meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
The head-to-head series stands at 15-6 in favor of Nadal, but it is an even 5-5 on hard courts. It is also tied 1-1 indoors following a 2009 Rotterdam win by Murray and a 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(6) thriller at the 2010 World Tour Finals that went to Nadal. Their only previous encounter in 2015 came on the clay courts of Madrid, where the Scot rolled 6-3, 6-2 to capture the title.
Fast forward six months and Nadal is in much better form now. The fifth-ranked Spaniard recently finished runner-up in Beijing and Basel to go along with a semifinal showing in Shanghai and a quarterfinal performance in Paris. He easily maintained momentum on Monday by winning his opener at the O2 6-3, 6-2 over Stan Wawrinka.
Murray enjoyed a similarly routine day against David Ferrer, needing only eight more minutes than Nadal (1:30 to 1:22) to prevail 6-4, 6-4. The world No. 3 is now 10-3 since the U.S. Open with a semifinal appearance in Shanghai and a run to the Paris final.
Whether he likes it or not, Murray seems to be on his way to the semifinals–thus cutting down on his clay-court preparation time for the upcoming Davis Cup final between Great Britain and Belgium. But he got in a week of practice on the red stuff last week and by the looks of his opening match he is motivated to do well in London.
That, along with the low-bouncing surface, is bad news for Nadal. Look for Murray to dictate play and eventually wear down his opponent thanks in part to the indoor conditions, but both players should advance to the semis in the end.
Pick: Murray in 3
[polldaddy poll=9183824]
Nobody is tanking in this match or doesn’t want to win. They will both come out and play to win this match. As for me, I never want Rafa to lose. A win against Murray here will be a big confidence boost for him.
Rafa needs to get those first serves in…I hope it improves soon…
Rafa serving at 41%. Muzza 52%
Fedole are laughing for five minutes each.
What happens to Rafa’s serve? Why is he serving so poorly his first serve?
because its not going in the box
rafa should have broken by now…
murray is being a complete pain complaining about him constantly..
was in first game
Whats he complaining about?
was complaining that rafa was taking time between points…they showed the times and murray was taking 29 seconds and rafa 30 so only one second more!!
also asking if he could have his part of the court dried as rafa had his dried becos of the sweat!!
going on and on and on….
Rafa needs to use those opportunities and convert the break points…Go Rafa, go!
Vamos!
Rafa serving poorly and returning poorly; Murray rallying poorly. Fed and Novak need not worry about them if they continue to play this way.
rafa is not returning poorly! where did you get that idea? Are we watching the same match?
Yes poorly and wasted so many BP chances. It’s not like Murray was serving any better either. Rafa wasn’t able to capitalize on Murray’s second serve until the last game of the first set. The second set Rafa was playing better but Murray wasn’t.
Rafa played well enough to win despite a poor first serve %. If he up his first serve % he will be playing even better for sure.
Luckystar, are you sure you are watching the right match? Rafa broke Murray to love in the 2nd set.
YES!! great return at 0-30!! rafa is playing better than murray…
yesss!!! That’s the way to go, Rafa! Show them all (including the resident hawkeye who still does not believe in Rafa 🙂 )
Vamos!!!!!
Nor do you. See what I did just there?
Your statement is an informal fallacy based on giving the impression of refuting my position, while actually refuting a position which I did not advanced. 🙂
🙂
hawkeye
In other words showing off your straw man argument skills
I hope Ricky doesn’t show double standards and consistently deletes your post.
1st set, Rafa
Vamos!
My prediction is 50% of the way there 🙂
And hawkeye’s prediction is 50% wrong so far. 🙂
LOL…
Warning: This is a Hawkeye-Rafa-centric site.
The 1st set stats:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CUGnNcOWwAAGkIT.png
🙂
Phew, Rafa finally breaks serve and takes the first set! Vamos! Hope he does even better in the second set.
given this is an indoor court i think rafa is playing well. constructing points well…
just needs to fix his serve..
Rafa will say “tank u very many” at match conclusion.
Wouldnt matter. A motivated Murray would be getting owned right now.
Looks like Ricky should have stuck to his original pick.
#ImMakingWaffles
6-4 4-1 ! sounds pretty good! is rafa not playing great, aggressive tennis? I am work so not watching.
Rafa is more tactical than aggressive.
he is playing great
^thanks for the update Ricky. it is 5-1 now!!
yeah, Rafa certainly played a great match! I am so proud of him!
Vamos Rafa!
I am not watching but the scoreline here is quite telling I believe! rafa’s winning matches easily! In the beginning of the year, if an opponent was playing badly, rafa was playing even worse! Don’t know how Murray has played so far but I would like to believe rafa is doing a pretty good job.
rafa is playing very well!!
has been moving murray around as if it was a clay court!!
vamosrafa,
I just watched my recording of the match. I was following the score on my iPhone while in physical therapy and saw that Rafa won the first set. But I wasn’t able to follow it after that. So I came home and watched it without knowing the result.
I thought Rafa played a great match. He was very aggressive and took the court away from Murray. Also by moving inside the baseline and taking the ball earlier, his forehand was that much more effective. Rafa was controlling the baseline and dictating points.
Murray double faulting three times in the first game of the second set, didn’t help his cause. Rafa really took control in that second set.
I don’t care what this victory means for who plays who! Rafa beat the #2 player! What a difference from Madrid!
This is real! We wondered when Rafa would beat anyone in the top five. Well, it’s happening now!
Rafa has 2 breaks!!!!!! Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vamos Rafa!
He must be playing amazing with his 1st serve barely at 50%.
If Rafa wins here, it’s big IMO.
First win over a Big 4 player in 1.5 years going 0-5 over that time.
A statement win and a big step to full recovery.
Mmmmmm….. breadsticks!!!!
Commies hawk, vamos Rafa!
Those who watched the match, was the forehand working?
Rafa’s FHs were the real beauty today…he moved Andy from one side to another forcing him to make errors…Andy mainly attacked Rafa’s backhand but Rafa has tremendously improved his backhand since that Madrid match…it was enjoyable to watch this Rafa!
Happy to be wrong!
Ricky should have stayed for his original pick.