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Thursday, October 18, 2007

Murray ready for Nadal in Madrid


Andy Murray cannot wait to face Rafael Nadal in front of the world number two's home crowd in the Madrid Masters third round on Thursday at 1900 BST.

The British number one has been in sensational form this week, beating Radek Stepanek and Juan Ignacio Chela for the loss of just nine games.

Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer thrashed Guillermo Canas 6-0 6-3 to advance to the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, third seed Novak Djokovic beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 2-6 6-4.

The Serb will face Mario Ancic in the next round after the Croat eased past France's Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4 6-3.

Last year's losing finalist Fernando Gonzalez, the fifth seed from Chile, had an emphatic 6-4 6-2 victory over Argentine Juan Monaco.

Murray, meanwhile, will be seeking to join them in the last eight and admits that he will have to serve well to overcome the Spanish star.

Nadal won their only previous meeting, a dramatic five-setter at the Australian Open in January.

"That was one of the best matches I've played on the tour," said Murray. "Probably in a Grand Slam the best match I've played. I was a little bit unlucky in part of the fifth set, had a lot of chances but I didn't take them.

"But indoors, if I serve like I have been, I have a good chance against him.

"I will not be the favourite going into the match, but I feel if I play like I have done in the last couple of matches it's going to be tough to beat me."

Nadal set up the tie by beating Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 6-4 in the second round - his first competitive match since going out of the US Open at the start of September.

The Spaniard believes Murray, ranked 17th in the world, could have been in the top six had it not been for the wrist injury he suffered in Hamburg in May.

Murray was kept out of action for three months and Nadal said: "In my opinion, if he did not have the problem in Hamburg he might have been at this moment the number two, three, four, five, six in the world.

"It was disappointing for him but now he is fighting for a good end to the season. He has played very well in the last two tournaments."

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