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[clementine]

Today was a tale of two tie-breaks - both SFs effectively decided by a second-set penalty shoot-out.  It was soul-destroying for Andy (and Nole in his match) to find himself two sets down.  Nadal was relentless and unforgiving - he and Uncle Tony were meticulous in their preparation - and while Andy played quite well, he never really managed that little spark of inspiration that might just have unsettled the immaculate Nadal game plan.  Nadal seemed to know what Andy was going to do and where he was going to hit the ball almost before Andy did and he was merciless in his bombardment of Andy's forehand, depriving him of his most potent weapon, his beloved backhand.  They are both brilliant tennis players, but today Nadal was the better match player. 

Andy has done great reaching yet another SF at Wimbledon, but once again he has run into an opponent playing phenomenal tennis.  His day will come.

[invisibleman18]

Missed the match. Was it close, or was Andy never really in it? The score doesn't always tell the whole story.

[Ruthie]

So, 9th August is the next Masters 1000 in Canada, and I'm sure Murray will be playing there - is he listed to play in any other tournaments between now and then?

In one of the interviews I think Andy said he'll  be preparing in US for Montreal, which is the next Masters I guess.  I doubt he'd want to play in a smaller tournament between now and then as he's trying to conserve his energy for the big ones.  Apologies if someone else has replied to this but there have been so many posts since early yesterday evening that can't keep up.

[invisibleman18]

It's this sort of match that makes me think he might never win a Grand Slam to be honest. It really was there for the taking this time with a very beatable final opponent ahead.

He beats the top guys in the smaller tournaments but I just can't help feeling that although he will (and already has done) get a little bit closer than Henman, like Henman he just won't be quite good enough to beat the them in the semi and finals of Grand Slams. Hope I'm wrong.

[Neil]

Totally disagree. I believe that it came down to very very few points on Friday. I think he is better and better every time I see him. He will win one soon and then it just depends who plays the best on the day. Nadal, Federer (if he still has it) or Murray.

[kennethswis]

I didn't see the match, so I suppose I shouldn't comment.  I don't think he did much wrong against Nadal, but it's the difference between them that Nadal can take his game to a different level in order to win.  I'm not sure what's required to combat this.

I'm not sure its a case of nadal having the ability to up his game more than murray, I really think on the day nadal just had it and Andy didn't. Andy has been able to up his game and by beating top opponents in the past we know he can do it well, he just didn't manage on the day.
We can take comfort on several things in this match:
-Nadal was in amazing form, hard for anyone to beat him then (even fed of course)
-Murray's serve was good, so many love games going his way its so unfortunate to get broken in the first two sets
-Murray was more aggressive. Maybe he should have done more serve volley and come forward more but I doubt it would have changed the result that much
-There was bit of bad luck, reffering to 3rd set really
-He got beaten by the best, this was the toughest match of the tournament even if he'd gone through i rekon

[Ruthie]

This assessment from Nick Bollettieri (which I've also posted on another thread) reinforces just how phenomenal Rafa's play was but also holds out hope for Andy in the future.  Scroll down to the bottom for the bit about Andy


http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/nick-bollettieri-nadal-has-the-talent-to-be-the-greatest-of-all-time-ndash-but-only-if-his-knees-are-up-to-it-2018430.html