Source: CCTV.com
03-20-2009 09:51
Scotsman Andy Murray spoiled Croat Ivan Ljubicic's 30th birthday to advance to the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. And number one seed Rafael Nadal saved five match points before eventually beating David Nalbandian in three sets. Nadal lost the first set and trailed 3-5 in the second before eventually winning the match.
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| Andy Murray of Britain plays a shot against Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic during the Indian Wells ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, March 19, 2009.REUTERS/Michael Fiala (UNITED STATES SPORT TENNIS) |
Ljubicic and Murray met 4 times before, each winning two times. But Murray is 9 years younger than the Croat and ranks 70 places higher. After exchanging early breaks of serve on the stadium court, the world number four Murray broke Ljubicic in the 11th game before winning the first set 7-5 in 52 minutes. The Scot held the initiative in the second set, and served for the match at 5-4 after the 74th-ranked Ljubicic hit a mistimed backhand that sailed wide. Murray failed to hold serve, netting a forehand as the score reached 5-5. But he forced an error from his big-serving opponent with a booming forehand down the line to take the tiebreak 8-6 and wrap up victory in just over two hours.
David Nalbandian had not lost a set to world number one Rafael Nadal and that statistic looked set to continue as the Argentinean took the first set 6-3.
Nadal trailed 3-5 in the second set and went down love-40 on his serve, and it looked like an upset in-the-making. But the world number one then showed all the fighting qualities that took him to the top of the game, overcoming four match points to battle back to 5-4.
