The new number one will play the new number two in the finals of Wimbledon, but until Monday, it will be the old number one playing the old number two.
For a while, British hopes were up for the improbably. Murray was hitting hard, holding his own serve, hitting corners, and keeping even with Nadal. Nadal was not serving his usual self and this gave chances for Murray on his serve. Murray secured a break to win the first set, 7-5.
With a chance for another break, Murray hit a huge forehand long, and eventually, Nadal held. Murray tweaked his hip, and suddenly, all those big shots that were landing in were no longer landing in, and Murray was racking up the errors. Sets 2 and 3 pretty much disappeared because of that. McEnroe suggested Murray take an injury time out to recover, but Murray chose not to do that.
Nadal secured an early break early in the fourth set. Murray was able to start playing better, but by then, Nadal was starting to chase shots down and be in more points, as opposed to set one, where he wasn’t even chasing some shots down.
Murray wouldn’t get a good chance to break. On his last serve, Nadal got up 40-0, then lost the next point, before winning the last point and the match, 5-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
He meets Djokovic in the finals. Djokovic has beaten Nadal all four times they’ve met, which includes four finals, two on hard courts, and two on clay. Djokovic is slowly regaining his game. Is it good enough to upset Nadal again?
