ATP World Tour Finals: Nadal vs Murray
Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal are set to clash in the first Semi-Final at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday and unlike many sporting events this weekend, the weather is likely to have little impact.
Slightly bizarrely, Andy Murray was keen to play down his chance of beating Nadal after overcoming David Ferrer on Thursday, telling the press;
"I'll try to win but I'm not sure I've got a whole lot of chance if I play against him. He's obviously the best player in the world. I've watched his matches here, he's been playing unbelievably well. I don't seem to beat those guys in the big matches. So I'm going to have to play my best tennis against him to win. I need to do it in a big match, in the semis."
There may have been an element of play in those comments but there is no doubt that the Scot is capable of missing his game on occasion and Nadal has looked pretty comfortable so far, despite having been off with an injury and not being the most comfortable with the indoor court characteristics. After beating Tomas Berdych, Nadal said;
"If you talk to people who know about tennis, everybody would say the conditions are a little bit easier for Andy than for me here. The court is a little bit easier for him. I'm going to try my best. I know it's going to be a really difficult match. The only chance for me to win is to play my best tennis and hope that Andy doesn't play his highest level.”
That probably sums up the game. Will Andy Murray play to his best or will he get mentally unsettled and throw in a poor one? Tough to call and the odds look about right on both players, with little variation. I tend to get it wrong where Murray is concerned but I am going to go with him at 13/8, having been keen to oppose Nadal pre-tournament.