ATP Tour - Murray downs Nadal for Rotterdam title

Eurosport - Mon, 16 Feb 23:02:00 2009

Briton Andy Murray upset world number one Rafael Nadal 6-3 4-6 6-0 in a disappointing World Indoor Tournament final in Rotterdam marred by injuries.

TENNIS 2009 - Andy Murray of Britain and Rafael Nadal of Spain pose with their trophies after Murray won the final of the World Indoor Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam - 0

Murray was less troubled by his ankle problem than Nadal was by his right knee problem after he had a medical time-out three games into the second set.

Both players then dropped serve four times in a row, handing the set to Nadal who could not put any power into his service but refused to give up.

"Thought the first set was very good, I played well and saw nothing on Nadal's movement" Murray said.

"But after his time out he wasn't running anymore and just hitting the ball hard from the baseline."

"It was disappointing as it wasn't particular entertaining at the end."

Murray, the world number four, knew he needed to play his best tennis to beat Nadal, but neither player reached the high standard they achieved in earlier rounds.

"After the first set and Nadal's problem I really struggled with my service game and got a bit nervous," Murray said.

Murray became the first Briton to win the tournament in Rotterdam. Tim Henman lost three finals in 1999, 2000 and 2002.

Nadal refused to blame his injury for his second successive loss to Murray after last year's US Open semi-final.

"Murray just played better today," Nadal said. "I tried but couldn't give anything more in the third set."

"I don't think that this injury will be a serious problem, for sure it is not the same as last year."

"It was an option not to finish the match, but that is not a good way to finish a final, not for me not for Andy and not for the crowd."

Nadal said he did not sustain the injury during the final but that it had got worse during the week.

"I will have a week now before I play Dubai and don't expect a problem so after all I had a great week in a strong tournament, with a spot in the final after good matches against Bolelli and Tsonga," Nadal said.

Reuters

Comment 125 - 144 of 184

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  1. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I am Scottish but Murrays is a pompous @#$%.

    From Rab C, on Sun 15 Feb 10:54PM

  2. WELL DONE MURRAY

    From John S, on Sun 15 Feb 10:28PM

  3. I always like Nadal(especially when against Roger) but­ this time Murray deserve the win with or without the­ injury by Nadal. I dont hink the injury is worst for­ Nadal to not give his best, the second set is the­ proof. The third set, the first three games, Murray­ played better, look at the quality of those shots if­ you have recorded it. At 0-3 Nadal panicked already. ­ But still look at those aces by Murray and those­ winners for the last 3 games. For Me Nadal is still­ the best, Murray is catching up ans progressed. Federer­ should i think re-engineer himself to be at par with­ Nadal and ward off the challenges of younger improving­ players like Murray and many others.

    From Daniel G, on Sun 15 Feb 10:19PM

  4. Well done Rafael for finishing the match! Good luck in­ the future & hope your knee gets better soon. Love­ from Anne.x

    From annestephens57, on Sun 15 Feb 10:06PM
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    by the way i cant believe you named a hill in wimbeldon­ henman hill, he was like the worst tennis player ever­ but you all got your hopes up everytime he played and­ lost, its like liverpool renaming the kop end­ "lucas slope"

    From Darren, on Sun 15 Feb 10:05PM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    he is a scottish brit, he supports rangers ,end of­ story

    From Darren, on Sun 15 Feb 10:01PM

  7. Why are you posting mine as an " invalid comment­ ?" - I think I'm right - this is not a dating­ website..Tallhub should be informed....as I said, I­ don't think she is on the right bus...

    From Big "H", on Sun 15 Feb 9:57PM

  8. andy murray,ill say it once and ill say it again.­ legend

    From leona, on Sun 15 Feb 9:55PM

  9. To many idiots on this with a view to turning it into a­ National debate, leave the English & Scots Us &­ Them topic out for those football events, for those­ interested in the home country's tournament when­ you can shout your stupid bigot remarks while trying to­ fill in your UB40..... Harsh maybe but true, BRITISH­ Tennis has a champion Andy Murray until it becomes­ Scottish tennis he will be regarded as British, we are­ a small nation lets not make it smaller and by far lets­ not enter such @#$% into Tennis.
    Im Scot's to those­ twats that need to know.....

    From Mitchell Curr, on Sun 15 Feb 9:47PM

  10. 134 Stefan, come to think of it..you probably have­ Grade A**, English A level...... from one of­ Blair(B'LIAR) & Browns first class academies­ ...... (**1972 'O' level..Grade E)

    From SD, on Sun 15 Feb 9:28PM

  11. 134...well thought out feedback.....great grammar....

    From SD, on Sun 15 Feb 9:15PM

  12. 128...hope he does win,... whatever.., doesn't mean­ he will stop being a completely boring Wally...does it!

    From SD, on Sun 15 Feb 9:09PM

  13. comments revisited..134, you completely miss the point­ , I dont give a f*ck about tennis...126 & 127 Kylie­ ?, i obviously 'hit the nail on the head',­ ...classic ...i love it

    From SD, on Sun 15 Feb 9:00PM

  14. Regarding the comment below, the U.K. is a union of 4­ nations.

    From colin, on Sun 15 Feb 8:54PM

  15. why are there alot of morons who post on here, who­ cares if murray is scottish he plays under the union­ jack for great britain, tennis is not like other sports­ i.e football where we all have a national team, they­ play under one flag, im english does that mean i have­ no right to support murray, or in boxing joe calzaghe­ cos he is welsh, in the olympics we all supported team­ GB, why, cos we are 1 nation

    From christopher m, on Sun 15 Feb 8:40PM

  16. well done murray im english and proud so all u anti­ murray so called english eat shi-

    From garylocker, on Sun 15 Feb 8:32PM

  17. what is invalid comment?

    From Augustine A, on Sun 15 Feb 8:23PM

  18. Well done murray . don't forget, these tired no1s­ are easy target for you. you seem to understand their­ games after long matches on the stretch. My advise is­ you rest your energy for a better tournament not this­ usless ones

    From Augustine A, on Sun 15 Feb 8:22PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Νο 114. Yeah, what did he ever do? It­ makes you wonder, doesn't it? The fact is that he­ does get them. Maybe it's his attitude? His­ arrogant comments about the other players? I think that­ if he asked to be exempted from interviews and shut his­ big mouth, maybe people would be less offended by his­ personality and concentrate on his game, which is­ pretty good. However, he is not God's gift to the­ world of tennis and somebody should tell him so.

    From Jimmy, on Sun 15 Feb 7:49PM

  20. look you @#$% idiots no wonder this country is in the­ state it is im scottish living in england and a former­ kosb infantry fighting for britain so come on you­ idiots we are all one if you think you are hard enough­ join the army and see how you feel then you idiots we­ are one and thats the way it should be

    From c.spiers, on Sun 15 Feb 7:48PM
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