Murray sets up semis clash with Nadal at Mubadala Champs

ABU DHABI, Dubai (AFP) — Andy Murray set up a Mubadala World Tennis Championship semi-final clash with Rafael Nadal when he battled to a hard-earned 7-6 (7/1), 5-7, 6-4 win over Spain’s Feliciano Lopez yesterday.

Murray, 27, needed five match points before he secured victory and will next look to clinch a double over Nadal in the Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament having defeated the Spanish great in the final in 2009.

“It was really good,” Murray told the www.national.ae.

“We played two-and-a-half hours, and it was a fairly high-quality match. There were some periods in the match, a couple of games, where the level dropped a bit, but there were some good rallies.

“Lopez is a different opponent to most of the players you play on the tour these days, so it was a good test for me, and I am happy I got two-and-a-half hours of good, competitive tennis to start the year.”

Murray said he was looking forward to facing Nadal as the world’s top players use the three-day exhibition tournament for crucial practice ahead of the new ATP season, which gets underway this weekend.

“When you have not played a match after a while, normally you can wake up a bit stiff the next day, a bit sore,” added Murray.

“So I will see how I wake up on Friday, but it is good for me to be able to test myself against Rafa and I will keep trying to improve.

“I am now guaranteed another two matches here, which is perfect and exactly what the players want.”

In yesterday’s late match, Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka eased past Spain’s Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-2.

Wawrinka will next face world number one Novak Djokovic in today’s semi-finals.

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Murray sets up semis clash with Nadal at Mubadala Champs

Murray doesn"t care much for rankings

Sport

Yet he still sits at number two in the ATP rankings. Wednesday, July 10, 2013

LONDON, England (AP) — Andy Murray won Wimbledon, of course, the first British man in 77 years to do it. He won last year’s US Open, too. And an Olympic gold medal.That’s all fine by him.A day after his historic victory at the All England Club, Murray said he is far more interested in winning additional Grand Slam titles than reaching number one. He has played in the finals of the last four major tournaments he enteredAsked Monday if moving up to the top spot is his next goal, Murray replied: “I don’t know. It’s a tough one for me, because right now I’ve won two Slams and… and (won) the Olympic gold, and I’m nowhere near being number one. I don’t know exactly why that is.”He noted that perhaps he needs “to be more consistent in the other events,” and is aware that skipping this year’s French Open because of a bad back did not help his ranking points.But Murray added that he’d be OK with never reaching number one.“I would rather not get to number one and win more Grand Slams,” he said, “than never win another Grand Slam and get to number one. I’d rather try to win more Slams.”He narrowed the gap in the standings but still trails top-ranked Novak Djokovic, the man Murray beat 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 for the championship Sunday. The last British man to win Wimbledon was Fred Perry in 1936. On Monday, Murray awoke after about an hour or so of sleep to fulfil media obligations, including posing for photos near the statue of Perry that stands outside Centre Court.Pictures of Murray graced the front pages of British newspapers on Monday, and there’s already buzz building about whether he will be granted knighthood.Murray was asked on Monday what he thinks about that.“I don’t really know,” he said, sighing and resting his chin on his left hand. “I mean, it’s a nice thing to have, or be offered. I think just because everyone’s waited for such a long, long time for this — that’s probably why it would be suggested, but I don’t know if it merits that.”

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Murray doesn"t care much for rankings

Murray wins Wimbledon, beats Djokovic in 3 sets

LONDON (AP) — From the lawns of Wimbledon to the lochs of Scotland, all of Britain can celebrate.

Andy Murray made it possible Sunday, winning his country’s hallowed tennis tournament to become the first British man in 77 years to raise the trophy at the All England Club.Yes, this was history, and Murray’s 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory over top-seeded Novak Djokovic was a fitting close to nearly eight decades of British frustration in its own backyard: A straight-setter, yes, but a hard-fought, 3-hour, 9-minute affair filled with long, punishing rallies and a final game that may have felt like another 77 years, with Murray squandering three match points before finally putting it away after four deuces.Certainly, the endgame must have felt like torture to the 15,000 watching on Centre Court, the thousands more watching on a big-screen TV on the grounds and, of course, the millions of British watching on TV.“Imagine playing it,” Murray said in his on-court interview.But he closed it out on this cloudless, 80-degree day on tennis’ most famous court. He put his name beside that of Fred Perry, the last British man to win Wimbledon, back in 1936.Those words don’t have to be written again.“He’s someone that I’ve obviously never met, but is quite relevant in my career really,” Murray said.The second-seeded Murray beat the best in Djokovic — top-ranked and a six-time Grand Slam tournament winner known for both a mental and physical fitness built to handle what he faced Sunday: A crowd full of overheated partisans rooting against him, to say nothing of Murray himself.“The atmosphere was incredible for him. For me, not so much, but this is what I expected,” Djokovic said.Since falling to Roger Federer in the final last year, Murray had shed some baggage by winning the Olympic gold medal on Centre Court, then following that with his first Grand Slam title at the US Open.The US Open win ended a 76-year drought for the British in the Grand Slams.This one? Even sweeter.“The pinnacle of tennis,” Murray called the Wimbledon win. “I worked so hard in that last game, the hardest few points I ever played in my life.”When he finally wrapped it up, he let his racket fall to the turf, took his hat off and pumped his fist toward the crowd. Later, he climbed to the guest box where his girlfriend, Kim Sears, and his coach, Ivan Lendl, were among those sweating this one out.Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jamaicaobserverFollow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/JamaicaObserver

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Murray wins Wimbledon, beats Djokovic in 3 sets