Rafael Nadal Crushes Andy Murray In Indian Wells Final

Lawn Tennis, Paris Open, Lawn Tennis Magazine

Rafael Nadal Crushes Andy Murray In Indian Wells Final
By Ken Miller, Lawn Tennis Analyst, Posted: Sunday, March 22, 2009 8:20pm PST USA

Rafael Nadal Crushes Andy Murray In Indian Wells Final, Lawn Tennis Magazine

Indian Wells--(lawntennis.org) At the BNP Paribas Open championship final Sunday, world number one Rafael Nadal crushed the 4th seeded Andy Murray of England 6-1, 6-2 in only one hour and 20 minutes.

In set one, Nadal of Spain broke Murray's serve to reach 3-1 with a short angled backhand crosscourt winner before closing out the set by taking the remaining three games in a row.

Nadal held up his high level of play in set two, despite the windy conditions and his having both his knees and the fingers of his right hand taped. Attacking the Murray forehand paid off for Nadal as Murray would send a forehand down the line long on breakpoint to fall behind 2-5.

With Nadal serving in the final game of the match, two backhand errors and a forehand error from Murray set up triple championship point for Nadal.

A mixture of backhand slices and topspin forehands positioned Nadal for the final Murray error as a Murray forehand crosscourt landed wide to end the match.

Rafael Nadal of Spain | Image: Getty

Indian Wells, California, BNP Paribas Open, Lawn Tennis Magazine

Andy Murray had not held a breakpoint throughout the contest while Rafael Nadal converted four of five breakpoints against the Murray serve.

Murray had not held a breakpoint throughout the contest while Nadal converted four of five breakpoints against the Murray serve. 22 errors from Murray also heavily outweighed his six winners of the match. Nadal finished with 13 winners to 17 errors.

“Unfortunately I could not get the job done today,” Murray said, “but I enjoyed myself and look forward to coming back next year.”

The victory was Nadal's second Indian Wells win as the Spaniard also took the singles title as well in 2007. It also marked Nadal's 33rd career singles ATP Tour title in a tournament where this year 48 of the top 50 men were entered.

“It was really tough conditions,” Nadal said. “I had very good movement. I think a did perfect today.”

In the women's tournament, the 4th seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia defeated the 5th seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 7-6(7-5), 6-2 to take the women's championship final earlier Sunday in a draw weakened dramatically by the Williams sisters', Venus Williams and Serena Williams, continuing boycott.

Share: Facebook Digg