Rafael Nadal beat Andy Murray 7-6 (2), 6-3 to reach the final of the Rogers Cup on Saturday and put himself in line for his seventh title of the year.
He’ll face Nicolas Kiefer, who reached the championship match with a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over France’s Gilles Simon in the first semifinal.
Nadal, winner of his first hardcourt title at the Rogers Cup in 2005, won the French Open and Wimbledon this year. He’s on a 28-match winning streak.
PHOTO: AFP
“You know, he’s definitely doing a lot of things better than he was in the past,” Murray said of Nadal.
“I think he’s moving better on hard courts, and I think he’s sort of changing the pace of the ball a little bit more and not playing so far behind the baseline like he did in the past,” Murray said.
“That’s why I think he’ll be No. 1 in the world soon,” he said.
First he has to beat Kiefer. In three career meetings, all this year, he’s never lost a set to Kiefer.
Kiefer, 31, hasn’t won an ATP title since 2000 Hong Kong and hasn’t appeared in a final since 2005 St. Petersburg.
“All I can do is go out there and fight,” Kiefer said.
Nadal was wary.
“He’s a very aggressive player, no?” Nadal said.
“Very good serve. He’s good going to the volley. He has not bad control, very good control with the backhand,” Nadal said.
“I’m going to try to play an aggressive match. I’m going to try to play inside the court and try to move him,” he said.
“Of course, I have to pick up one more level,” Kiefer said.
Murray certainly did, but Nadal seemed to use it as motivation to take his own game up a notch.
“I played against Andy very good today because he — my opinion — he played one of his best matches against me,” Nadal said.
An uncharacteristically aggressive Murray went shot for shot with Nadal in the first set, during which both players held serve. It wasn’t until the tiebreaker that he flinched. Down 2-6, Murray double-faulted on set point.
He still came out strong in the second set.
It took 18 points for Nadal to hold serve in the first game, and when Nadal broke Murray in the fourth game, the gangly Scotsman broke back in the fifth.
But Nadal wore him down. Murray wound up with 40 unforced errors to Nadal’s 16, and lost despite firing 14 more winners than Nadal.
He said the margin of error was just too small for him to keep pace.
“I made a few too many errors, and he played solid like always,” Murray said.
Nadal hasn’t lost since Rome in May. And in his last four finals, he’s defeated top-ranked Roger Federer three times and world No. 3 Novak Djokovic once.
But he says he’s not taking a win against Kiefer for granted.
“I played a very good tournament, but tomorrow makes a lot of difference win or lose one final, no?” he said.
Kiefer, the first German to reach the final since Boris Becker 22 years ago, won a plodding affair in front of a subdued Rexall Centre crowd that didn’t seem to take an interest until the final tiebreak.
Simon, who ousted Federer, and Kiefer mostly traded groundstrokes from the baseline. As he’s done all tournament, Simon played patiently, kept the ball in play and waited for Kiefer to make mistakes. And, again, it worked, as Kiefer made 69 unforced errors.
But Simon made a few too many errors of his own.
Up 5-4 in the third set, Simon had a ball gently bounce high in front of him and he primed for an overhead smash, before launching the ball into the bottom of the net.
He finished with 32 unforced errors, and capitalized only on three of 13 break-point opportunities.
“I didn’t need to play a long match like this, but it was a great fight,” Simon said.
“I’m proud. I just gave all I had today,” he said.
Kiefer, meanwhile, hit 50 winners and 12 aces.
“I didn’t play my best tennis, but in the important moments I could pick up my game and I was playing pretty good,” he said.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
The sacred flame for the Paris Olympics was lit yesterday in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games, in a ceremony inspired by antiquity and marked by messages of hope amid multiple global crises. “In ancient times, the Olympic Games brought together the Greek city states, even — and in particular — during times of war and conflict,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said. “Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. Then as now, the Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message — yes, it is possible to compete fiercely