It took Andy Murray almost ten years on Tour to clinch his first ATP clay-court title in Munich 2015 after a thrilling victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber in over three hours. With no time to celebrate, Murray went to Madrid and beat Kohlschreiber again in the second round to start winning.
The Briton got rid of Marcel Granollers and Milos Raonic in the following matches to secure a place in the semi-final against last year’s Madrid finalist Kei Nishikori. It was his fifth meeting and his fourth victory for Andy, who defeated Kei 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes for his first Masters 1000 final on the slower surface.
Murray only dropped 18 points in nine service games, fending off two of three break chances and mounting the pressure on the other side. Andy broke four from eight chances and sealed the deal in straight sets to set up the matchup against two-time champion Rafael Nadal.
Murray had 24 winners and 18 unforced errors, forging a huge advantage in the shorter range of up to four shots that had the lion’s share in his victory. Nishikori had the upper hand in later rallies, which wasn’t enough to keep him engaged or secure at least a set.
The Japanese fended off a break chance in the third game of the encounter and hit a return winner at 3-2 for the first break chance. Andy saved it with a powerful backhand down the line and closed out the game with another excellent backhand to level the score at 3-3.
Interestingly, Alex Corretja has a positive head-to-head record against both Roger Federer (3-2) and Rafael Nadal (2-0).
Corretja reflects on King Roger
Alex Corretja recently gave his thoughts on the GOAT debate, asserting that Roger Federer should not be left out of the discussion simply because of his poor head-to-head record against Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
“When people say Roger Federer has lost against Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal more times and that’s why he can’t be the best in history, it’s absurd to me,” Corretja said. “Because of their [contrasting] style of play, Nadal is obviously going to do a lot of damage to him.
The only tactical mole that hurts him is the backhand high ball and the best shot in history is Rafa’s high cross forehand to the opponent’s backhand,” Corretja said. “The best of one is combined with the only weak point of the other.”
