RESULT: Murray Vs Nadal - 4th Round - Australian Open 2007

7-6(3) 4-6 6-4 3-6 1-6

So disappointed for Murray, but I'm pleased he's managed to remain upbeat.

It was an awesome performance from both players with some unbelievable quality in the rallies. Even a five-set score doesn't really tell the story of how close the match was in terms of ability.

The overal difference came down to Nadal taking more of his break point opportunities (sound like the Doha final?) and having a touch more fitness going into the fifth set.

Here's a quick overview of the match:

SET 1:
Murray made little in-roads on the Nadal serve, but managed to hold his own serve well. With Nadal 6-5 up, he found a break - and set - point. Murray held well to force the tie-break.

Two successful hawkeye challenges, some great serving and Murray powered through the tie-break 7-3.

SET 2:
Murray mixed up the play so well and showed an incredible range of shots. A break and a hold and Murray found himself 4-1 up and Nadal floundering.

Then Nadal stepped up a gear and, at the same time, Murray seemed to be struggling with a pain in his side. It's hard to say if this affected his game or not, but his 1st serve percentage dropped dramatically and Nadal won five games in a row to take the second set 6-4

SET 3:
Another break for Nadal and things looked ominous. But Murray picked up his form again and broke back.

At four games all, Nadal had two break points. Murray saved them both and then immediately broke Nadal to win the third set 6-4. Amazing tennis as the players seemed to take it in turns to be in the ascendency.

SET 4:
Murray had break point galore in this set, but couldn't convert any of them. This made the difference and Nadal only had to break once to take the fourth set 6-3.

SET 5:
After three and a half hours Murray was still going strong, but Nadal suddenly seemed to be running faster and hitting harder than ever. An immediate break and hold from Nadal saw him go two games up.

Agonisingly in the next game, Murray had five break points, but couldn't convert any of them. The most excruciating point was when Nadal's shot seemed to be going wide, but Murray opted to take the volley on. The point should still have been won, but it clipped the net cord and sat up perfectly for Nadal.

The quality of the tennis was still high, but Nadal just had the edge and broke again. Murray managed to hold his next service game, but couldn't stop Nadal from serving it out. After winning the final point with an awesome shot, Nadal fell to the floor as if he'd just won the final.

Nadal was full of praise for Murray in the post-match interview and Murray was pleasingly upbeat about his performance and his ability to push the world number two all the way.

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I can't wait for Murray's next tournament.

Murray has so much confidence right now and if he carries this level of ability through, then I think the majority of the time, Murray will cruise through against opponents outisde of the top 20.

I said at the beginning of the year that Muray will break into the top ten. This seems more likely then ever.

I'm going to make another prediction now:

Before the end of the year, Murray will win at least three ATP titles and will reach his first Grand Slam final.

Remember, you heard it here first ;-)

Post your predictions for Murray for 2007 in the comments section.