Briton Andy Murray upset world number one Rafael Nadal 6-3 4-6 6-0 in a disappointing World Indoor Tournament final marred by injuries on Sunday. Murray was less troubled by his ankle problem than Nadal was by his right knee problem after he had a medical time-out three games into the second set.
Both players then dropped serve four times in a row, handing the set to Nadal who could not put any power into his service but refused to give up. "Thought the first set was very good, I played well and saw nothing on Nadal's movement" Murray told reporters. "But after his time out he wasn't running anymore and just hitting the ball hard from the baseline."
"It was disappointing as it wasn't particular entertaining at the end." Murray, the world number four, knew he needed to play his best tennis to beat Nadal, but neither player reached the high standard they achieved in earlier rounds. "After the first set and Nadal's problem I really struggled with my service game and got a bit nervous," Murray said. Murray became the first Briton to win the tournament in Rotterdam. Tim Henman lost three finals in 1999, 2000 and 2002. Nadal refused to blame his injury for his second successive loss to Murray after last year's US Open semi-final. "Murray just played better today," Nadal said. "I tried but couldn't give anything more in the third set."