A clash between Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal on clay was mouthwatering for tennis fans around the world. After all, the last time the two men met on the clay was way back in 2016, in their last professional match to date. Murray won on that occasion, taking the Madrid Open semi-final 7-5, 6-4.
In an odd twist of fate, this was the two friends’ next meeting, on the virtual clay of the Madrid Open. This time, however, the rules were different. The winner would be the first to three single games, as long as that victory was by two games. End up level at 3-3 and it would be atie-break to decide the winner.
That method was exactly how Nadal limped into this meeting, but for Andy Murray, the route was much easier, a convincing 3-1 victory over Benoit Paire making him a 4/7 favourite when taking on Nadal. We said yesterday that the price was huge for Murray and should be taken up and we’re happy to report that we weren’t wrong.
In what was a ludicrously one-sided affair, Nadal’s method of getting a return from anywhere wasn’t good enough, Murray’s groundstrokes pinning his opponent to the corners and leading to some friendly banter between the two men.
Murray held to love in the opening game, smashing down two aces to leave Nadal grinning and shaking his head. Nadal fared no better on his own serve, two ferocious double-handed backhands from Murray exhausting the virtual Rafa, a Murray line winner scorching the digital clay on its way to setting up a break to 15.
In the final game, Murray was back on serve to close it out, and the result never looked in doubt. The Scotsman even raced into the net a couple of times to show off his Virtual Tennis skills, one double-handed backhand volley past Nadal before he could say “Well played, Andy!”
That was said a few times by Nadal as Murray won every point bar one in a whitewash of a victory. Nadal, ever polite, simply chimed “Thank you, Andy!” as he crashed out of the event.
When asked if he felt confident of the outright Madrid Open victory, Murray was modest but realistic.
“I think I’ve got a chance, yeah.”
That’s an understament. Murray, somehow available at 11/4 in a SkyBet promotion from general odds of 9/4, has to be backed.
“I don’t need to train a lot to beat him in this game. He’s not very good.” Murray said of his opponent after the thrashing. “If I practised a lot, it would have been even worse for him today!”
Another routine 3-0 win against Denis Shapovalov in the following match sent Murray through to the quarter-finals, whereupon he did some digging on other players who had played well so far Being told that Diego Schwartzman was a man in form made Murray chuckle.
“Schwartzman?!” Murray said, “I practised with Schwartzman and he was terrible when I played with him! Maybe he’s been practising.”
With €50,000 being donated to the Madrid Food Bank after the Virtual Madrid Open, there will also be a pot of €150,000 on the line in the virtual ATP and WTA events at the Virtual Madrid Open, with players who win able to choose how much they donate to their struggling peers lower down the tennis pyramid when it comes to earnings.
British players may well be looking with interest at the conclusion of the competition as Andy Murray (at 9/4) looks great value to take down the tournament. He faces German pro Alexander Zverev next, while edging ahead in the outright stakes, Stefanos Tsitsipas (13/8 to win the Virtual Madrid Open) will play David Ferrer next.
Here are the highlights from Andy Murray’s dominant display against home crowd favourite Rafael Nadal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8aspxHv-nM
ATP Virtual Madrid Open quarter-final draw:
Andy Murray (1/3) vs Alexander Zverev (9/4)
Diego Schwartzman (1/3) vs Fabio Fognini (9/4)
Stefanos Tsitsipas (2/7) vs David Ferrer (5/2)
David Goffin (11/10) vs Benoit Paire (4/6)
Outright Virtual Madrid Open odds:
Stefanos Tsitsipas – 13/8
Andy Murray – 9/4
Diego Schwartzman – 5/1
Benoit Paire – 10/1
David Ferrer – 14/1
David Goffin – 14/1
Alexander Zverev – 16/1
Fabio Fognini – 16/1
