Andy Murray has proved it is simply a matter of time before he wins his first grand slam title, according to Rafael Nadal.
Writing in his exclusive blog for The Times, hours after beating the British No 1 in four sets, Nadal claimed the British No 1 was “much better” than several players who have won one of the four major titles in tennis.
The Spaniard even admitted he had been second best to Murray in the first set of the match, which Nadal won 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, prolonging Wimbledon’s 75-year wait for a British winner in the singles.
“Andy Murray is a very talented player, a really good one, best of [the] best and yesterday during the first set he proved it once again,” Nadal said.
“What a first set, there was no way I could keep up with his shots! I always say it but it will be sooner than later that he will win a Grand Slam. And I also think that even if he hasn’t won a major yet, he is much better than some players that have won one!”
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Nadal’s victory was not enough to prevent Novak Djokovic from usurping him as world No 1, however. The Serb, who has enjoyed a superb run of recent form in which he won 43 matches consecutively before losing to Roger Federer at the French Open, displaced Nadal at the top of the rankings by beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 in the first of the two men’s semi-finals yesterday.
Nadal meets his successor as the world’s top player in tomorrow’s final - the fifth for the Spaniard at Wimbledon - and he admitted that Djokovic merited his new status.
“I wanted to congratulate Novak for being number one,” Nadal said. “He has been the best player so far this year and deserves to be the ATP World number 1.”
Nadal, who also hailed the Wimbledon crowd as “arguably the best in the world”, added Nadal, who said he was preparing for a sleepless night.
“As you can imagine I am very happy for being again on the final of Wimbledon,” he said. “If anyone would have told me when I was 15, or 16 or 19 years old that I would have played five finals at Wimbledon I would have not believed it.”
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Click here to read Rafael Nadal’s exclusive blog.