Lucky Thirteen

Rafael Nadal was going for his 13th Masters title, and Andy Murray was in his way. It looked like Murray would give the Spaniard some trouble since he had beaten Nadal in their last two meetings. Murray appeared to have uncovered Nadal’s number.

It did not help matters that the Spaniard struggled with his serve and unforced errors in his last three matches and almost lost to David Nalbandian in the round of 16. If you were betting on the upset, it would not have been a bad move. Luckily, Nadal saved the best for last.

It was a windy afternoon in Indian Wells. Not letting the conditions bother him, Nadal was all business.

The beginning of the match was a real slugfest with long rallies between the two players. With Nadal, long rallies equals the opponent running around the court. Murray was visibly out of breath by game 4 in the first set, which lead to a Nadal break. After being broken, Murray was talking to himself and arguing with the umpire. The Spaniard then coasted to take the first set 6-1.

The second set was a repeat of the first. This time the old Murray was back with the Scotsman slouching his shoulders and verbally abusing himself. At 15-15 in game 5, Murray dropped the F-bomb after a missed shot. Incidentally, Nadal broke Murray in the same game. Murray did not put up much of a fight after the break, and the Spaniard went on to win the set 6-2 and the match.

This is the 22 year old’s 13th Masters title and his 33 ATP career title. This was also a dominant win for Nadal, so I guess everyone is on notice for Miami.

Singles Championship
1 Rafael Nadal def. 4 Andy Murray 6-1 6-2

(image: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)