Murray vs Nadal Wimbledon semi-final

All the hype of the World Cup and the England football team seems to have helped Andy Murray this year. He has benefitted from less pressure as all the media was focused on England’s dreadful World Cup campaign. However he did say before the tournament that he would support any team that beat England, so he kind of shot himself in the foot there now England are out.

There were lower expectations of Murray this year as well because of poor form going into Wimbledon. However this too seems to have eased the pressure on him and he is now the tournament’s second favourite after Nadal at 4.6. Coming down from a high of 13.0, he has quietly made his way into the semi-finals and will play Nadal on Friday.

Murray is yet to drop a single set in the tournament so far, and his 2-2 record with Nadal will surely give him some added confidence going into the match. Both will be happy that 6 time champion Roger Federer won’t be waiting in the final.

The British public should look at the evidence that clearly shows Murray has thrived under less pressure this year. If he loses, look at the good points. There is always next year and many years in the future of his young career. If he wins, then Britain will have their first Wimbledon champion since Fred Perry in 1936!

Murray has shown good fighting spirit already. He nearly went two sets down against Jo Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-final, but showed a non-British trait and came back to win the match. His winning form shows he has what it takes to beat Nadal who has not continued his hard and clay court form from earlier in the season – he has dropped 5 sets so far at Wimbledon. That’s not saying Nadal will be easy to beat though. He is a very tough opponent and gets better as tournaments go on. Murray has a good chance in this match and the hot weather has got the grass acting like the hard courts he enjoys.

Andy Murray is 2.52 to beat Nadal in the semi-final.