Nadal takes down Murray, meets Djokovic in final repeat
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usopen.org, September 11, 2011
Completing the men's dream semis, defending champion Rafael Nadal appeared to be in little mood to emulate Roger Federer, who earlier surrendered a two-set lead and allowed his match against Novak Djokovic to turn into a five-set classic.
Instead, the second-seeded Spaniard played smothering all-court tennis, with only a lapse in the third set, en route to a 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over No. 4 Andy Murray, to advance to a repeat of last year's Monday final against Djokovic.
Nadal played aggressive, but contained, ball, judiciously approaching the net to win 19 of 25 points. In long rallies, Nadal frequently dared Murray to go for more than he needed to, provoking 55 errors and continually frustrating the irritable Scot.
"I think today I play my best match here," said Nadal.
In their third match in three successive days, Nadal initially looked much fresher than Murray, who needed four tough sets to get past John Isner in the quarterfinals. The Spaniard thoroughly outplayed Murray in the first two sets, but allowed him back into the match in the third, as Nadal's shots suddenly began to lose a bit of steam and land short.
But Nadal bounced back in the fourth set to snuff out the Scot's hope of a second come-from-behind victory on a rain-altered Super Saturday. The Spaniard dug in to snatch a break advantage for a 3-1 lead in a tightly contested fourth set and then broke again at love to cement the three-hour, 20-minute victory.
Prior to this encounter, Nadal had won the duo's last four matches, including the semifinals of Wimbledon earlier this summer. In 2008, Murray defeated Nadal in the US Open semis.
The third set that Nadal surrendered to Murray is the only one he has lost en route to the final.
Nadal is on a five-match losing streak against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
"I play five finals against him and lose all five," said Nadal after defeating Murray. "Hopefully New York will help me."
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