Abby Brammell

Pump it up: Andy Murray shows the raw passion which fired him through to a semi-final clash with Marin Cilic in Melbourne

The two sets of tennis that you have always yearned to see from Andy Murray arrived here with the thrilling destruction of Rafael Nadal to put him within two matches of winning a first Grand Slam title.

Is it premature to start, like we all did at Wimbledon, thinking of the name Perry and the 74 years that have elapsed since a British player won a tournament of the Australian Open’s stature?

Not according to Nadal who, before he wrenched his right knee in the quarter-final and was forced to retire when trailing 3-6, 6-7, 0-3, saw enough to make him believe that this could be the time for the 22-year-old Scot.

It was an intense, nerve-wracking contest, packed full of quality and electric moments.

Murray was sensational, matching Nadal’s power in his groundstrokes most of the time and blasting his way past him aggressively when the moment was right. But don’t be fooled by the scoreline, Nadal was not far off Murray for most of the first two sets.

Last year’s champion came out of the blocks far the better player but - as became the pattern in the match - whenever Nadal got ahead, Murray fought back and then saw him off for good measure.

Their ridiculously long rallies, often 20 shots or more, created a brilliant atmosphere, the crowd erupting at the end of each point.

You can only imagine how the players felt. Murray put more on his second serve from the off and often clobbered his forehand rather than giving it the relative caress that usually looked too insipid against in-form opponents at the four Majors in 2009.

There was also a generous smattering of serving and volleying when he needed it, as well as his more predictable brilliant returns to damage the Spaniard.

When he faced break points, his serve was outstanding, his nerve even more impressive. This helped him fight back from a break down to win the first set and hang on when Nadal edged ahead 6-5 in the second.


In pain: Nadal receives medical treatment in Melbourne


Instead of crumbling, he recovered and bulldozed his way through the tie-break. By the time he broke the world No 2 at the beginning of the third, Nadal’s body had had enough.

In the bowels of Melbourne Park afterwards, former players and coaches were abuzz with what they had seen.

‘The best I’ve seen him play, so good it was scary,’ said John Lloyd, whose bullish predictions had proved accurate.

Murray even managed to survive the disrupting effect of a nine-minute delay while Australia Day fireworks were let off not far from the stadium.

The players had been warned beforehand, but the stoppage came at a bad time for Murray as he was about to serve and he was duly broken before breaking back immediately.

‘When the big moments came in the match I thought I dictated what happened on the court,’ said Murray.

It is always tempting to revert to type when the pressure is greatest and he has succumbed before. Not this time.

Nadal could not be precise about when he wrenched his knee, but it happened around the tiebreak, which he lost 7-2, and got steadily worse thereafter.

Yet in the wake of his defeat, Nadal emphasised that until his mishap late in the second set, he was playing about as well as he can and Murray was good value for his victory.

‘I think Andy’s at an unbelievable level, no? I think my level was very high, too,’ he said. ‘I think it was an amazing two sets and we both played really well.

‘He served unbelievably when I had chances. He’s a very complete player. Andy deserves to win his first Grand Slam and I think he’s going to do it.’

Marin Cilic, the 21-year-old Croatian who defeated Andy Roddick to make it through to Thursday's semi-final, will try not to see it that way. He will have the memory of the straight sets win he inflicted on Murray at September’s US Open.

Having their say as well will be the winners of the remaining quarter finals, which feature Roger Federer taking on Nikolay Davydenko and Novak Djokovic tackling Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.


Sympathy: Murray shames hands with Nadal after the Spaniard was forced to pull out of their superb quarter-final


For good measure the same sentiment was expressed afterwards by welterweight champion Ricky Hatton - on holiday here to support Murray, who is a keen boxing fan.

Recognising a decent pugilist when he sees one, Hatton ventured that in one-on-one combat his new friend had ‘wiped the floor’ with the world No 2.

The Scot declined to use the more colourful language of the fight game when he considered whether he would be out for revenge for New York, where he was suffering from the onset of a sore wrist.

‘Everyone talks about revenge but you go out there knowing that every day is a new day in tennis,’ said Murray.

‘I’ve played him on tour a few times and had good results against him except there. If I play like I did here then I have a good chance of winning.’

A critical factor could be the contrasting way that he and Cilic - as phlegmatic as his fellow Croatian beanpole Goran Ivanisevic was erratic - have arrived at this point in the tournament.

Murray has not lost a set and been on court for just a shade over 10 hours, while the fast-rising world No 14 has had to play 18 hours and 40 minutes and been taken to three five-setters.

The latest was the quarter-final win against Andy Roddick, which he finally wrapped up 6-3 in the decider, having been two sets up.

While his age will help him recover physically, at least to some extent, he admitted that his gruelling battles have taken their toll.


Plenty of support: Fans cheer on Britain's No 1 Murray


‘Roddick was a tough match mentally. It’s not easy psychologically to bring out your best tennis when you need it,’ he said. ‘Murray is going to take a lot of energy out of me, so we’ll see how I’m going to be able to survive.’

His triumph over the American denied Murray the chance to avenge his Wimbledon semi-final defeat of last year when, if he had shown the same spirit of adventure and tactical poise as he did here, he would surely have reached his allotted appointment with Federer.

On that summer afternoon, the British No 1 had sat back too much and relied on his tried and trusted method of counter-punching, only to find that the inspired Roddick was able to overrun him.

It cannot be guaranteed now, but the next five days may reveal this victory to have been a career-defining one for the best player in the sport not yet to have won a Grand Slam


source: dailymail