LONG OVERDUE: ANDY MURRAY, RAFA NADAL SET FOR A RARE MEETING IN MADRID TENNIS FINAL BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 9th May 2015

LONG OVERDUE: ANDY MURRAY, RAFA NADAL SET FOR A RARE MEETING IN MADRID TENNIS FINAL BY RICKY DIMON

epa04740745 British Andy Murray in action against Japanese Key Nishikori during their Madrid Mutua Open tennis tournament's semi final match at Caja Magica tennis complex, in Madrid, Spain, 09 May 2015. EPA/JUANJO MARTIN |

Partly due to injuries, partly to poor play, and partly due to the luck of the draw, there has been a surprising halt to the Andy Murray vs. Rafael Nadal rivalry. They have not squared off since last year’s clay-court swing and they have faced each other only twice since 2011.

The two Grand Slam champions will finally collide again–for the 21st time in their careers, in fact–on Sunday in the final of the Mutua Madrid Open. Nadal is dominating the head-to-head series 15-5, including 6-0 on clay. He prevailed 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 last year in Rome and 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 a few weeks later at the French Open. Nadal is 14-2 lifetime in total sets at Murray’s expense on the slow stuff.

Nadal was hoping to emerge from a season-long slump in either Monte-Carlo or Barcelona, but that did not happen. The world No. 4 lost 6-3, 6-3 to Novak Djokovic at the former and got upset by Fabio Fognini at the latter. Things may be turning around in Madrid, where Nadal is the two-time defending champion. He did not drop set en route to the title match while taking out Steve Johnson, Simone Bolelli, Grigor Dimitrov, and Tomas Berdych.

“For the past couple of days I have been playing better and better every day,” Nadal assessed. “That’s always very good news. I am in the final. I am happy for that. I am enjoying a lot the fact that I am playing in front of an unbelievable crowd. For me, that’s the best crowd in the world without any doubt. So that gives me a lot of really positive energy.”

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal celebrates after defeating Czech Tomas Berdych in their Madrid Mutua Open tennis tournament’s semifinal match at Caja Magica tennis complex, in Madrid, Spain, 09 May 2015. EPA/JUANJO MARTIN

British Andy Murray in action against Japanese Key Nishikori during their Madrid Mutua Open tennis tournament’s semi final match at Caja Magica tennis complex, in Madrid, Spain, 09 May 2015. EPA/JUANJO MARTIN

Murray also has plenty of momentum, having already secured one title this week (at the rain-delayed Munich tournament). The third-ranked Scot booked his spot in the Madrid final thanks to victories over Philipp Kohlschreiber, Marcel Granollers, Milos Raonic, and Kei Nishikori. He has surrendered just one set, to Kohlschreiber. Murray is 29-5 on the season with runner-up showings at both the Australian Open and the Miami Masters.

“Against Rafa it is going to be extremely difficult, especially playing here in Spain,” the second seed assured. “I think he’s played very well this week, too. Hopefully I can put in a good performance and make it tough for him.”

It almost certainly won’t be easy for Nadal, who still may not been in dominant form even though he has clearly heated up since the most glaring struggles in Miami and Barcelona. But there is no reason to think his unblemished record against Murray on this surface will end–especially not at home in Spain.

Pick: Nadal in 2

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Madrid Masters, MMOpen2015, Mutua Madrid Masters, nadal, Rafa, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

May 9, 2015 at 7:38 pm

LONG OVERDUE: @andy_murray, @RafaelNadal SET FOR A RARE MEETING IN #MADRID #TENNIS FINAL BY @Dimonator- http://t.co/N1YjNIsEEL #MadridOpen