TENNIS ABU DHABI – Andy Murray eased past Rafa Nadal 6-2 6-0 in the semifinal of the Mubadala World Tennis Championships. The Scot will face Novak Djokovic who won nine games in a row from 1-1 in the first set to cruise to a easy 6-1 6-2 against 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka. Diego Sampaolo
Murray eased past Nadal 6-2 6-0 in the semifinal of the Mubadala World Tennis Championships. Nadal was rusty in his first match since losing to Coric in Basel last October and did not provide any opposition to Murray who showed good early-season form in his second 2015 match. Murray will face Novak Djokovic who won nine games in a row from 1-1 in the first set to cruise to a easy 6-1 6-2 against 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka.
Murray broke serve on his first . He saved three break points before breaking again to seal the first set with 6-2. The Scotsman broke serve in the second game of the second set after Nadal committed a double fault before fending off five break points in the third game. Murray got a second break to cruise to a comfortable 4-0. Nadal could not convert four break points in the fifth game before Murray closed out the second set with a bagel.
Murray showed his good form winning his second match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships Exhibition Tournament, which does not carry ranking points but provides clear indication on the shape of players after the December break. Nadal certainly needs to play matches in preparation for the Australian Open where he finished runner-up to Stan Wawrinka.
“It was closer than the score suggests. It was a very tough match with many long games. While he had a lot of break points, I won the most important ones. 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. You never know how you are going to feel until you get on the match court. I am pleased. Today was an improvement from yesterday and hopefully tomorrow will be better as well”, said Murray.
The second semifinal between Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic was another one-sided match. The Serbian World Number 1 dominated the match winning with a clear 6-1 6-2 in just 57 minutes. After dropping serve in the fourth game of the opening set, Wawrinka managed to win just two games.
