Andy Murray beat a top-four player for the first time since
the 2013 Wimbledon final when he defeated Rafael Nadal 6-2
6-0 in the semi-final of the Mubadala World Tennis
Championship in Abu Dhabi.
The Scot, 27, was too strong for Nadal, who displayed signs
of rust in his first match since October.
He faces Novak Djokovic, who he beat to win Wimbledon, in
Saturday's final.
"It was closer than the score suggests. While he had a lot of
break points I won the important ones," Murray said.
"You never know how you will get on until it comes to match
conditions, but it seems that all the pre-season hard work is
paying off."
The six-man exhibition event is the unofficial season opener
with top seeds Nadal and Djokovic receiving byes to the semi-
finals.
Murray had beaten another Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez, 7-6 5-7
6-4 in Thursday's opening match and that outing clearly
benefited the world number six, who looked far sharper than
his opponent.
Murray's ATP Tour wins over Nadal
Tokyo 2011 3-6 6-2 6-0
Toronto 2010 6-3 6-4
Melbourne (Australian Open) 2010 6-3 7-6 3-0 (ret)
Rotterdam 2009 6-3 4-6 6-0
New York (US Open) 2008 6-2 7-6 4-6 6-4
Nadal was playing his first match since losing to 17-year-old
Borna Coric in the Swiss Open, and his lack of game time was
evident as he failed to convert any of his 12 break points.
Murray raced into a 3-0 lead and broke Nadal twice as he
comfortably took the first set.
The Scot broke again in the second game of the second set
and after saving five break points in the next game, broke
again to take a 4-0 lead.
He was struggling with his first serve, but Nadal again failed
to convert another four break points in the next game before
Murray broke the Spaniard for a fifth time to seal victory.
In the other semi-final, world number one Djokovic played his
first game in six weeks but continued his impressive 2014
form as he restricted last year's Australian Open winner Stan
Wawrinka to just three games in an impressive 6-1 6-2
victory.
Source-bbc.com
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