Andy Murray is so near and yet so far behind the master

Nearer and nearer it seems Murray gets, but once Nadal had been granted that suggestion of a reprieve — that perhaps Murray was a mite too anxious — he went on to produce spellbinding quality, a rash of thunderous winners to which the challenger could offer only fortitude and a flailing racket.

It felt as though the British public had been teased in that opening set and three games, and that made the sense of despair even harder to take. He will keep coming back, though, and must retain the belief that he can go all the way.

Quite remarkably, in the middle of the fourth set, as Murray tried everything he could to seek out an Achilles’ heel in Nadal’s defences (his own heel seemed to hold up very well), the Spaniard had committed only seven unforced errors to 33 by the British No 1.

Even when Nadal went sliding on “my famous a***” on a piece of rather green grass, he still had the presence of mind and reflexes to catch his racket. He is excellent standing up and not bad sitting down.

It would have been worth a penny for Murray’s thoughts as he sat on his chair waiting for Nadal to finish his warrior-like salute in the middle of the court and pack his various bits and pieces away.

The Scot was lost in the middle distance, knowing that he had put all he had into the tournament, yet had been separated from the fulfilment of his dreams by this quite phenomenal athlete who has only nice things to say about him.

In tomorrow’s final, Nadal must end a four-final losing sequence against Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, if he is to clinch an eleventh grand-slam tournament title.

Djokovic, who has usurped him as No 1 by reaching his first Wimbledon climax, has beaten Nadal twice on hard courts and twice — astonishingly — on clay. If he can do it on the grass as well, it will represent a significant shift in the tectonic tennis plates.

Dani Vallverdu, Murray’s long-time friend and hitting partner, had tweeted at the start of the day: “IF YOU WANT IT GO AND GET IT.” From the initial exchanges, it was clear that the message had been heeded. Knowing how imperative it would be to peg Nadal back, Murray landed his first five serves, two without a racket being laid on them. As first games go, it was rather impressive.

There was a small outbreak of panic when Murray summoned Paul Ness, the ATP Tour trainer, at the first change of ends; a long discussion ensued, but no treatment was administered. It seemed as though the Scot may have jarred the hip that he injured in the later stages of his victory over Feliciano López in the previous round.

Nothing seemed to be impairing Murray as the first set rolled along. Both men held serve well, a peppering of aces from the Scot, the swinging, slicing variety from Nadal, mixed in with an assortment of winners and the occasional fluffed line. Murray was taking the ball nice and early, hitting deep, stepping in, doing all the things that he had to if he was to keep the Spaniard on the defensive. The target was ostensibly Nadal’s backhand and, at times, it really wobbled.

The first mini-crisis arrived in the eleventh game, the first to be extended to deuce, thanks to a wonderful backhand lob from Nadal that Murray pursued in vain towards the roller end but could only flick high and wide of the umpire’s chair.

Another ace secured the home foothold that was to look even more secure a game later.

Murray stepped up the vigour in his shots; Nadal missed a forehand, shunted a backhand wide and all of a sudden, the first break points of the match had arrived. Not only that, they were set points. A mistimed backhand service return accounted for one but when Murray nailed a forehand service return just as he would have wanted, Nadal’s defensive backhand slice hit the net tape and landed softly back on his side.

Murray dropped a single point in his first two service games in the second set. Then it was 15-30 on Nadal’s serve at 2-1. The defending champion was wobbling on the line in his service preparation and looked vulnerable. His second serve then was clocked at 97mph, Murray was all over the ball, it landed gently in his swing arc, beneath the umpire’s chair, and he could have put it anywhere. He put it three inches over the baseline. What should have been 15-40 was 30-all. It was like handing Nadal the key to the lock on his ball and chain.

There was a sinking feeling among most of the 15,000 souls and the awful thought that Murray might not hold his next service game. A double fault at 30-all seemed to suck all the positive vibes from the stadium. Nadal slid into a lob, Murray was faced with a retreating overhead and smacked it a yard out of court. Things were not going to get a great deal better.

A terrible drop shot at 30-all in his next service game was followed by a backhand hit so badly that Murray was walking to his chair before it had even landed in the net. As much as his corner tried to encourage him, he did not look like a man who could be saved either by a gesture from anyone else, or of his own.

Turning points

Second set, fourth game Murray still looks aggressive and has a great chance to earn two more break points at 15-30, but he pushes his forehand long. A wasted opportunity that he struggles to put out of his mind.

Third set, sixth game Murray may have thought luck was turning his way when a desperate lunge at a powerful forehand from Nadal — a reflex shot from way outside the court — somehow creates a winner down the line. But Nadal’s reply is to hit three aces.

Third set, fourth game With a superb passing stroke, Murray gets that rarity, a break point on Nadal’s serve. The Spaniard saves it with a volley and then bullies Murray in a game that lasts nine minutes. We sense that Murray’s last chance may have gone. He barely has another chance to break.

Words by Patrick Kidd