Andy Murray: Does Monte Carlo 2011 Signal the Resurgence of the Scot?

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at Internationaled.org

Published: April 18, 2011

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While Rafael Nadal's praises are being sung, in the wake of his seventh consecutive triumph at the Monte Carlo Masters, we shouldn't yet forget the match which really determined the winner of this tournament—his monumental semifinal against Andy Murray.

With no disrespect to David Ferrer, it was pretty clear to most people that the winner of the battle between the world No. 1 and No. 4 would have very likely been the hot favourite in the final the day after. As it turned out, the world No. 1 won—someone who was coincidentally the six-time defending champion, and, just as it happened, the best player on clay in our era (possibly ever).

What is more remarkable about the match was just how close Murray actually came to winning it. Yes, it was sadly reminiscent of the match between Nadal and Djokovic in 2009 (which went by the similar sounding score of 6-3, 2-6, 6-1), with vintage Nadal sets sandwiched by aberrant, albeit temporary, setbacks. Scores of 6-2, however, do not exactly encourage the notion that Nadal's domination on this surface is as it once was.

Well yes, he did lose that bagel to Federer at Hamburg in 2007, but he was tired, and he was playing Federer, after all. But for Murray to have won a set by a double break against Nadal on clay is quite remarkable. It suggests several things: that the Scot does have, after all, a game suited to all surfaces and that the game of tennis is in fact slowly transcending the surface differentials that used to exist.

At any rate, Murray's performance was ballistic. We've known for years that it would take a great two-hander to adequately challenge Nadal on clay, and Murray provided us with just that shot, which Federer will never, purely from a physical and technical perspective, be able to hit: the crushing backhand crosscourt.

Often the Scot would probe Nadal's backhand, and where the opportunity arises, thump his supersonic backhand into Nadal's f...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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