Rafael Nadal’s second week at Wimbledon was so routine that the most surprising moment may have come immediately after his semifinal. When Nadal saw that Andy Murray’s last sad forehand volley had landed long, he dropped to his back in abject joy. This is a reaction that Nadal typically reserves for Grand Slam titles, Olympic gold, the occasional Masters win. If it seemed odd that he would pull it out in a semi, it shouldn’t. Murray makes him nervous.
Rightfully so: Nadal had lost their two previous major-tournament encounters, at the U.S. Open in 2008 and in Melbourne earlier this year. And while the Spaniard came into their match in Toronto today with an 8-3 head-to-head record, he was no less nervous about having to face him again. In fact, even for a guy who typically makes his opponents sound like a diabolical cross between Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg, Nadal seemed unusually, even puzzlingly, respectful of Murray as he looked ahead to their matchup.
Told that Murray had been singing his praises, Nadal returned the bromantic word-hug. “Play against him is always a challenge,” Rafa said, “because if you are not playing your best is impossible to win, and playing your best at the same time is very difficult, too. . . . If I really want to have chances to win, I have to play aggressive. Is not going to be impossible but not exactly like grass. . . . I hope I think I can do it.”
I realize that Nadal is a superstitious guy who knows a tennis match can go in any direction and that there’s never more than a hairs-breadth separating one top player and the next. But still, this seemed a bit much for a No. 1 player—how often do you hear someone with the status of an eight-time Slam winner use the word “impossible” when referring to his chances against any player, let alone one who he has beaten eight of 11 times? Nadal has said things like this about Murray before, and you could hear in his voice yesterday that it was neither false modesty nor a psyche job. When he said “I hope I can do it,” he sounded sincerely unsure.
After that Friday presser, I wasn’t surprised when Nadal came out passively against Murray on Saturday. It didn’t help that his serve was, as he said afterward, “horrible,” but he also allowed Murray to take the match to him early on. Nadal was also tentative with both ground strokes. He netted backhands on key points—he said he needed to work on that stroke before Cincy—and mistimed some very makeable forehands. What he mostly did was run back and forth along the baseline sliding and scrambling after Murray’s shots.
Does Nadal respect Murray too much? He said he felt a little slow at this tournament, and he came out equally flat on Friday against Kohlschreiber, but today’s match reminded me a lot of his semifinal loss to Murray at the Open two years ago. Nadal had no swagger to start, and it took him more than a set to begin to dictate points. In both matches he looked a little confused about how to play from the baseline, which is a product of Murray’s particular strengths. Asked afterward what made him a difficult opponent for Nadal, Murray said that having a “double-handed backhand” helped. More accurately, it’s having a really good double-handed backhand that helps. Nadal can’t construct points by pounding the ball into that side, because Murray can handle his topspin and redirect offensive shots from there. A typical first-set rally today consisted of Murray moving Nadal to his right with a crosscourt backhand, then hitting the next floating ball with a crosscourt forehand. It was his point to lose from there, and he didn’t give many of them back.
This left Nadal with no blueprint for a rally. Instead of the brutally decisive player we usually see, he looked like he was feeling around for what to do from point to point. While he’s solved his Murray riddle the majority of times, he’s struggled against him on hard courts. Which side should he attack? Neither presents an obvious target. And when he does attack, Murray is fast enough to stay with him for longer than just about anyone else. If Nadal rallies, Murray can take the ball on the rise and move forward. This is why the word “impossible” comes up when Nadal discusses him. It's why he won't be looking forward to facing him at the U.S. Open.
On the other side of the net, Murray knows he’ll get a chance to take the offensive against Nadal, which is not typically the case with this dyed-in-the-wool counterpuncher. Today he returned serve from inside the baseline and gave Nadal a taste of his own medicine by looping his forehands deep to Rafa’s backhand. Most impressive was the way he handled the inevitable Nadal run, which came midway through the second set. Down 3-4, 15-40, Murray turned the momentum back in his favor by going after his forehand on the next two points. He eventually held. The aggression and positive energy spilled over into the next game, when he broke Nadal with a series of strong, compact crosscourt backhands.
After the match, Murray said he was “enjoying himself” without a coach. On one level, he meant that he could enjoy spending time on the road with his coterie, his buddies. But in his last two matches—straight-set wins over guys of the stature of Nalbandian and Nadal—Murray has also been calmer than normal, both in his game plan and his demeanor. It makes sense. With no coach, this edgy and at times stubborn young man has no conflicting advice in his head. He has no last-minute instructions to remember. And, at least for today, he had no face in the crowd to scream at.