Rafael Nadal’s head-to-head with Andy Murray was incredibly one-sided in the early stages of their rivalry.
Nadal emerged victorious in each of the first five meetings on the ATP Tour against Murray, beating him on all three surfaces.
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At the 2008 US Open, however, the Briton finally got one over on the Spaniard with a statement performance.
Murray defeated Nadal in four sets on Arthur Ashe Stadium, 6-2, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 to advance to a maiden Grand Slam final.
After his victory, the eventual three-time major champion revealed what his tactics were against the King of Clay.
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In his post-match press conference, he said: “Every time I played him on hard courts, I’ve always felt like I wasn’t getting pushed around the court. I always felt like I was dictating a lot of the points.
“His strokes, although they have a lot of topspin, if you play close up to the baseline, they come to you at quite a nice height. He doesn’t normally hit the ball very close to the baseline.
“He hits it obviously high with a lot of topspin, but it can come short. If you can take your opportunities early in the rally to get a good strike in, you can dictate a lot of the points.
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“That’s what I tried to do in the past against him and had chances in each match that I played against him but just never won the big points and never returned well.
“I said before the match I was going to have to return better to have a chance to win, and that’s what I did.”
Andy Murray said Rafael Nadal did not have a big serve
While his overall game was almost perfect, Nadal’s serve was arguably one of the weaker shots in his game, which Murray commented on.
“He doesn’t have a big serve,” said the Scot. “But he puts so much spin on the serve that if you stand close up to the baseline, for me, you know, he can get it into your body.
“It’s quite tough to read because he moves the racquet very fast, you know, just as he’s about to make contact.
“It’s a tough serve to read, even though it’s not particularly big. I gave myself a lot of time and didn’t get aced… I probably got aced once, twice today.
“But I was getting myself into a lot of the points, and that’s what you need to do against someone like that, you know, who normally has to work pretty hard for his points. If you’re giving a lot of cheap ones from his serve, he’s going to dominate you.”
Murray ultimately lost in the final of the 2008 US Open against Roger Federer.
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