There will always be respect and warmth between Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal, and perhaps it was that long-standing bond that persuaded both of them (without consultation, presumably) to play down what was clearly a fractious encounter on Saturday, the Spaniard staying cool enough to reach his 11th final Monte Carlo Masters final.
Murray, who lost a match he had looked like winning, appeared unhappy with what he and nearly everyone else present perceived to be the Spaniard’s time-wasting, not to mention the refusal of the umpire, Damien Dumusois, to do anything about it until the final game.
Nadal, who also upset Murray’s rhythm by stopping play on the Scot’s serve in the first game of the third set to wash dirt from his eye, seemed wholly unaffected. He rarely lost focus in the two hours and 43 minutes it took him to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 and that was ultimately the difference between them.
Nadal will play the mercurial Gaël Monfils on Sunday and that too should be a match to remember. It would not surprise if victory went to the Frenchman, who has been in impressive form all week and, in the second semi-final, was way too sharp for his compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, winning 6-1, 6-3 in 69 minutes.
Nadal is not as dangerous as he was but his confidence is high and his commitment is total. Murray, who insists defeat has not left a scar, will spend time at home with his wife, Kim, and their daughter, Sophia, before heading for Madrid and Barcelona, then Rome and Paris. That is a lot of sliding around on the red dirt but the world No2 says he is in better shape now than he was a year ago – when he won the first clay title of his career, beating Nadal in the Madrid final.
As for what seemed to be a brief but sparky exchange between himself and Dumusois, he paused before saying: “He got the time violation for taking too long in that last game. [But] there were a few things that happened during the match. You guys were watching. You can draw your own conclusions. I don’t know how much of a bearing any of that had on the outcome. That stuff always happens. When you’re losing, it’s easy to get frustrated.”
Although the umpire seemed impatient with him after one exchange, Murray was generous in his appraisal of Dumusois. “The umpires have an extremely difficult job. Sometimes guys are ready to serve and the crowd is making a noise. If you ask for a towel, and the ball kid is picking balls up ... things happen that make people run over some times.”
Welcome to the diplomatic corps, Mr Murray.
Nadal was similarly nimble. “Something comes inside to my eye,” he said of his unscheduled pit-stop. “Nothing important. I didn’t want to stop but [it] was bothering me more and more and I was losing little bit of the vision so I had to go to the chair. Still feeling something I didn’t want to stop when Andy was serving because I think it is not fair.”
Señor Nadal, join Mr Murray over there for further training in avoiding the question.
All that aside, some of the tennis in the first two sets and right at the finish hit a glorious peak of excellence, each player drawing on their considerable stores of wit and skill to thrill a crowd suitably lubricated on a warm but not uncomfortable Saturday afternoon. The drop shot featured often, accompanied by the lob. Murray chose not to target Nadal’s supposedly weakening forehand and he did not serve well but his ground strokes until a wholesale collapse in the third set were sumptuous.
Nadal does not cover a court as completely as he once did but when he gets to the ball he still can thread it to within millimetres of where he wants it to go. All in all, they are still big contenders.
Earlier, Andy’s older brother, Jamie, held on to his world No1 doubles ranking when he and Bruno Soares, the Australian Open champions, overcame Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 6-2, 6-4 in the first semi-final – although they blew two match points in the deciding game, when Murray served a double fault before putting away a final reflex backhand volley.
He was under extra pressure here, as Melo, who will team up with his Brazilian compatriot Soares at the Rio Olympics, was five points behind him in the rankings. Defeat would have cost Murray the top spot, although he said later he was not particularly bothered. Soares said it was a strange feeling playing against Melo. “He was best man at my wedding and we are really good friends. We grew up together and have played together a lot.”
Jamie can say exactly the same about Andy. They, too, hope to play in the Olympic doubles together. Meeting Soares and Melo in a medal match would be another strange feeling for all of them.
In Sunday’s final Murray and Soares meet Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who beat Murray and John Peers in the final of the US Open last year. Here they beat the Colombians Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah 7-6, 6-4 in the second semi-final. “They have no weaknesses,” Soares said.
