Andy Murray Falls Short of Rafael Nadal's Mental Toughness

WIMBLEDON, England -- If you're lucky, you get one chance. One tiny opening. One. And it might be just a false opening at that.

This one lasted maybe 90 seconds. Andy Murray, still trying to find his greatness, had lost the first set to Rafael Nadal Friday in the Wimbledon semifinals. They were in the tiebreaker in the second set, five points apiece. And Nadal double-faulted.

This was it. Murray had set point, and it was now or never.

One chance. Murray missed his first serve, got his second one in. Nadal crushed a forehand. Murray, who runs faster than many horses I've seen -- and some I've bet on -- tracked down the ball while Nadal came to the net.

Murray belted a shot for what looked like a winning passing shot. Nadal lunged for a stab volley, stuck it over the net for a winner.

And that was it. Chance gone. Door closed. Match over.

Not officially, of course. That would be a while. But Nadal would go on to win 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-4. He will play Tomas Berdych Sunday in the finals.

Nadal is back. Sure, he already won the French Open four weeks ago. Sure, he already regained his No. 1 ranking. But now he's back where he's supposed to be: on Centre Court playing for the Wimbledon title.

It seems so long since his classic final here two years ago, when he beat Roger Federer and gave tennis a special moment. Nadal never even got to defend that title, hurting his knees and missing last year's event.

"Two years,'' he said. "Life goes fast. Since these two years, a lot of things happen to my life. Is not very (long), but at the same time, I have two years with different things (happening).''

In those two years, Nadal went from invincible to hurt. From unrelenting to lacking confidence. His parents were divorced. He went 11 months without winning a tournament.

And now after all that, he's back.

He is the best player in the world. But he still has to beat Berdych, who defeated Novak Djokovic Friday, to finish the circle.

Berdych has always been loaded with talent, but has panicked under pressure. He got nervous again when he played Djokovic, but he came through. He keeps getting into big matches, and appears to choke a little less each time, honestly.

He's learning. He is close to becoming a big star in this game.

But he'll be lucky if Nadal gives him that one tiny opening.

Friday's match against Murray will just add to the frustration and pessimism of Brit sports fans. Still suffering from the loss of England's World Cup soccer team, they were turning to Murray, from Scotland, to be the first Brit man to win Wimbledon in 74 years, or to win any major in nearly as long.



Share Murray keeps coming close to winning a major, which just makes it more frustrating. He is a tease. He reached the final at the Australian Open, but fell apart against Federer.

And now he was ready for Nadal. Murray had beaten Nadal in Australia. That was a different, less confident, Nadal, though.

So the talk here will be how their boy Andy blew it again.

But really, that isn't what happened.

"I mean, you're not going to be able to play every single point on your terms against the best player in the world, one of the best players ever,'' he said. "You can't.''

Murray said he felt he was in a rhythm, was serving well, playing well.

It's all true. But that second-set tiebreaker was the perfect example of what makes Nadal Nadal.

Murray was fine. He didn't choke. He didn't crumble.

What happened was that he didn't have that one special thing, whatever that greatness is that makes a champion.

Nadal has it. There is no way to describe it, but it has something to do with hitting the special shots at the special moments, with the most pressure.

Couch at Wimbledon

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National Columnist Greg Couch delivers features and analysis from 2010 Wimbledon. Stay current with his complete Wimbledon coverage. -- Read More
Consider this: They played 189 points. Nadal won 98 and Murray 91.

Just seven points difference in a straight-sets victory. Nadal won five more games, and three more sets, but just seven more points.

Nadal brought the tiebreaker back to 6-all after that stab volley. And he won a point when the ball tipped the tape to beat Murray. Lucky?

Maybe a little. But the truth is, Murray's approach shot was tentative, a little nervous. He allowed Nadal to go for the big shot.

That door was already closed, anyway. You can say that Murray got nervous, and maybe he did.

But it takes more than just normal focus against a champion close to the finish line. It takes superhuman relentlessness.

In the Wimbledon final last year, Andy Roddick had the same one-second opening against Federer. He had a medium-tough backhand volley, and had to hit a winner. It would have given him momentum and put him in position to win.

He botched it.

The door closed. The match would go on seemingly forever, but that was his chance.

His one chance.

"When you win these matches, it's always the same thing,'' Nadal said. "(It) is play well, and the mental thing. Mental part is decisive, no?''

No question.

E-mail me at gregcouch09@aol.com