Murray's revenge over Nadal

(reuters)

Andy Murray overpowered Rafael Nadal to reach the final of the ATP Rogers Cup last night. The Scot, who is the defending champion here, beat the world No 1 and top seed 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 44 minutes to exact a measure of revenge for his Wimbledon semi-final defeat by Nadal earlier this summer.

Murray had hailed his impressive victory over the in-form David Nalbandian in the quarter-finals as his best win since the Australian Open final in January, but he said beating Nadal was even more rewarding. "Today, I think, was better. To win against him in the first big hard-court tournament was a big boost for confidence," he said. "I obviously played very well, didn't make too many errors and dictated a lot of points from the back of the court."

He broke serve once in the first set and twice in the second, in which he immediately reasserted his authority after Nadal threatened a comeback.

The 23-year-old, who has preserved his world No 4 ranking by reaching the final, could only manage 46 per cent of his first serves. But he broke for the first time to go 5-3 up in the first set and then held his serve in emphatic fashion, three straight aces putting him 40-0 up, to see out the set.

Murray broke again to go 2-1 up in the second set, but a huge Nadal forehand gave him two chances to break back and level at 3-3. Murray saved the first break point only to have no answer to another booming forehand.

Nadal had points to break for a second time but Murray dug deep to make it 4-4 and then established a 40-0 lead, duly breaking to move within a game of victory. He comfortably served out the match to set up a meeting with either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic in today's final.