Murray meets Nadal in Madrid Open tennis final

Andy Murray is 9/4 with Coral to beat Rafael Nadal in the Madrid Open final, after beating Japan’s Kei Nishikori in straight sets.

After reaching his first Masters final, Murray said:”I returned well and put him [Nishikori] under a lot of pressure on his serve.

“I did a few things well,” he added. “Kei has a fantastic backhand and I won the exchanges on cross-court,”he continued.

“I got a lot of winners down the line and because I was pushing him back to the baseline, I was able to use my to drop shot. I was getting a lot of kick on second serve, too, so I got a lot of free points with that.”

The British number one is aiming to win back-to-back clay court titles after winning in Munich recently and is 9/2 to beat Nadal in straight sets.

Having seen off Tomas Berdych in his semi-final, Nadal spoke of his joy at reaching the final: “I had to play at a very high level today to have any chance and I think it was without doubt one of the best matches I have played this year,” a jubilant Nadal told Spanish television.

“This week was crucial for me and the fact that I am in the final cannot be improved on given my situation coming into the tournament,” he added.

Nadal is heavily odds-on at 4/11 to beat Murray and evens to do so in straight sets, and the pair haven’t met since this outcome occurred in the final of the French Open at Roland Garros, also on clay, so this could be a decent bet.

Having changed his racket at the start of the season, Nadal switched back for the tournament in Madrid, and it appears his decision was justified.