Nadal vs Murray – Brit could find burden too much
Published:The tag of future Grand Slam winner must be becoming onerous for Andy Murray to bear, seeing as he’s worn the moniker for a fair time now.
And the fact he hasn’t yet held aloft one of tennis’s premier trophies might weigh heavily on his mind when he takes on Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon semi-finals on Friday.
Nadal is the 4/7 favourite to win, while Murray is 5/4 to reach his first Wimbledon final.
In their head to head record, Nadal has seven wins to Murray’s three, though two of the Scot’s came at Grand Slam semi and quarter finals.
Having not entered the tournament last year because of injury, the Spaniard hasn’t lost at Wimbledon since being beaten by Roger Federer in the 2007 final, 12 matches ago.
Nadal has had to come back from the brink at this year’s tournament, and another five-set win for Nadal is priced at 5/2.
Despite Murray’s imperious form so far – he’s only dropped one set – the world number one seems to have an ability to perform at an even higher level when the prizes are on the line.
Nadal’s Grand Slam-winning nous may give him the edge in what looks set to be a tumultuous battle. Nadal is 11/4 to win in four sets, while Murray is 9/2 to win in the same manner.
Before his knee injury last year Nadal was looking like the man to take the mantle as the world’s best after leaving Federer in tears following his epic 2008 Wimbledon win.
The Swiss, who is now out of the tournament, has been the one to bring Murray to his knees, but Nadal could be the man to end Murray’s dream this year.
Can Murray cause a shock? He is 6/1 to win in straight sets. See the full Nadal vs Murray market.
