TENNIS/PARIS MASTERS:SHORT OF practising in the Versailles Hall of Mirrors, Andy Murray could have come no closer to playing himself than with Argentina's David Nalbandian on the other side of the net yesterday. They are hardly identical twins in temperament or looks but in terms of shot-making they have so much in common, most especially a two-handed backhand of timing and control.
On this occasion Nalbandian was always just a shade better than Murray, beating him 7-6, 6-3, although it was a Paris Masters quarter-final of the highest quality on a day which saw the world's two leading players, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, pull out.
Murray acknowledged the similarity with Nalbandian: "When we are on the ball we look like we have more time than we do. We prepare for our shots pretty early, although there are a few differences - I use slice a little bit more, he likes to change the direction of the ball more than me."
It was both the similarity, and those small differences, which had a packed Palais Omnisports purring with Gallic delight. And so Murray's run of 14 victories came to an end, wins that have encompassed triumphs in the Madrid Masters and St Petersburg.
He was attempting to become the first player to win three consecutive Masters series, having won in Cincinnati in August, but when Nalbandian strikes this sort of form, as he did when winning here last year, beating Federer and Nadal in the process, he is almost in a class of his own. That Murray pushed him so hard, notably in an opening set, spoke volumes for his fast-accelerating improvement.
The Argentinian, whose one slam final came somewhat incongruously at Wimbledon in 2002 when he was beaten by Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, is the only top-10 player whom Murray has yet to beat, their one previous meeting being three years ago at Wimbledon when, having established a two-set lead, Murray's teenage body and brain rebelled against the intensity of the situation in his first appearance on Centre Court. That was man against boy. Yesterday they were competing on equal terms and it was riveting.
Nalbandian has struggled in all the slams this year, failing to get beyond the third round, which for a player of his ability is wretched.
However, he has rediscovered his form indoors, winning a recent tournament in Stockholm, and it was Murray's misfortune to play him at the top of his game.
Federer pulled out of his quarter-final against James Blake of the United States with a sore back, a precautionary withdrawal in view of the end-of-season tennis Masters Cup which begins in Shanghai next Sunday. And there was further disappointment for the crowd when Nadal, with an injured knee, called it a day after losing the opening set 6-1 against Russia's Nikolay Davydenko.
Two of the eight places for Shanghai remain open after yesterday's play, with Nadal, Federer, Novak Djokovic, Murray, Davydenko and Andy Roddick having qualified.
