Wimbledon Same as Usual for Disappointing Murray

Friday's Wimbledon results went as expected, as the scores easily favored Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The two met with some speed bumps, yet the world's No. 1 and No. 2 players finally moved on to form a massive finale. But fans in Britain weren't that happy about the results, since Nadal had to blow by home town favorite Andy Murray to do it. Yet this latest missed opportunity for Murray, and Britain as a whole, was particularly heartbreaking.

The scores read that Nadal got past Murray in four sets 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 and 6-4. Although Murray was able to take the first set, he all but collapsed afterward. And the source of his downfall can be traced to one point, when he was up by 2-1 in the second set, and had the chance to break Nadal and take control.

At 15-30, Murray had a wide open shot to get past Nadal, yet he narrowly hit the ball out instead. After that, Nadal rallied to hold the serve, and didn't lose another game for the rest of the set. From that point on, the results were inevitable.

For the third straight year, Murray went down at the Wimbledon semifinals, as regular as clockwork. Once again, his chance to win Britain's first men's tennis Grand Slam title in 75 years had fallen short, as it did in the 2010 and 2011 Australian Open finals, and the 2008 U.S. Open final. This is why the Big Three of men's tennis isn't a Big Four quite yet.

For some time, the game was dominated by Nadal and Roger Federer, yet Djokovic finally broke through this year to make it a Big Three. With so many near misses in his career, Murray would appear due for a similar breakthrough, but that just doesn't seem to happen for British-affiliated tennis players.

Perhaps the top of the men's tennis circuit is just too strong in this era, given Nadal and Federer's brilliance, and Djokovic's 47-1 record in 2011. That kind of bad luck is common for Britain in this sport, as it finally has a top contender, only to have him play in the same era as two of the all-time greats.

But the country is used to getting over its disappointment to enjoy the Wimbledon finals, and the semifinals resulted in a doozy of a matchup this year. Although Djokovic hasn't won the title yet, he has already overtaken Nadal as the new world's No. 1. Yet that would mean a lot more if he actually beat Nadal on the court to back it up.

For the most part, the scores in the men's bracket have gone exactly according to form, with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the finals, and Murray flaming out on schedule. So by that predictable pattern, Nadal should rack up another title on Sunday morning.

Sources

Yahoo Sports- "Nadal and future No. 1 Djokovic in Wimbledon final"

The Daily Beast- "Why Brits Never Win Wimbledon"