Tennis
2009-04-18 - Rafael Nadal vs Andy Murray
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal is back on his favourite surface and is back to doing what he does best and demolish his opponents. He looked a little rusty in his opening win against Juan Ignacio Chela but yesterday came through 2 matches on the same afternoon when he comfortably disposed Nicolas Lapentti and Ivan Ljubicic for the loss of 9 games.
Nadal is 27-3 on the year so far and I expect him to improve this drastically over the next few months as the clay court season and the grass court season take place. He won in Indian Wells before losing in the Quarter Final in Miami to Juan Martin Del Potro.
He has won in this tournament each of the last 4 times he has competed. In fact, Nadal has not lost a set in the last 2 and a half tournaments he has played here.
Andy Murray
Andy Murray finally made a Quarter Final on this surface and then beat Nikolay Davydenko to make it to this Semi Final. He is close to overtaking Novak Djokovic as World Number 3 and has beaten Victor Hanescu, Fabio Fognini and Davydenko so far this week without dropping a set. However, Fognini and Davydenko both gave Murray a scare in their matches and Murray will have to improve drastically to defeat Nadal.
Murray is 29-3 on the year so far which gives him the best record of the season so far. He has little points to defend here over the coming 2 months and will be hoping to have a better time on this surface than he did last season.
He has had a very good month or so by coming in as Runner Up in Indian Wells to Nadal and then following that with a win in Miami, the so called 5th Major.
Head to Head
Nadal and Murray have met on 8 occasions in real competition and it is Nadal who leads 6-2.
They have both won a match apiece this season, both on hard courts. Nadal won outdoors in Indian Wells and Murray won indoors in Rotterdam.
They have only met one time on clay previously. On that occasion it was Nadal that won 3 and 2 in Hamburg last season.
Prediction
Nadal is a monster on clay. He has a 136-4 record on the surface over the last 4 seasons and this does not look like changing soon. Its going to be very difficult to stop him in the form he is currently displaying.
Murray has done well to reach the Semi Finals here but he has struggled in the last 2 rounds against players not in the same league as Nadal. This is going to be an interesting experience for Murray who was comfortably disposed on the surface last season by Nadal. Murray needs to reach a brand new level on this surface if he is to get close to Nadal here.
I think this match is not going to suit Murray who will be frustrated by Nadal. I can see the Spaniard winning this one with room to spare so I will take him on the handicap.
The Pick :
Rafael Nadal to beat Andy Murray 6-3, 6-3
