Day 4: Murray v Nadal Tennis: World Tour Finals

Rafael Nadal. Andy Murray. So powerful. It is like an exhibition

match. Oh yes, that is amazing. That is an absolute demonstration. That

is a wicked tennis point. Brilliant shot. The hard work has paid off,

very comfortable, brilliant performance. That will be that. It

is always a superb clash of style and personality, these two played an

epic 3-set battle on this Court five years ago, Tim and Andy with me

again, a lot has happened in that five years, particular for Rafa.

There have been some fantastic achievements but we reflect on the

previous ten or 11 months where he has had a real battle with his

confidence and he had an open and frank press conference in Miami and

he said in the big moments he was so nervous and struggling so much. In

the last couple of months, it looks like he has found better form, he

played a fantastic first match against Stan Wawrinka, 6-3, 6-2, it

will be an interesting matchup against Andy Murray. As they make

their way onto the court, Rafa has talked about the quote he gave in

Miami where he said he was lost his confidence coming he was being so

honest but he said that has really hurt him. You have to have fun when

you are out there, he wants to be honest with having fun and with

people in the game, he wants to play by instinct again and put the smile

back on his face. He knows it is not a crisis, we know what a crisis is

over the last few days and he has kept it all in perspective. He is

better than number ten in the world and is back up to number five. He

has 27 Masters 1000 trophies, from Spain, Rafael Nadal!

Ladies and gentlemen, making his seventh appearance at the Barclays

ATP World Tour Finals, winner of 35 titles including two grand slam

singles crowns, from Great Britain, Andy Murray.

The players are out, a great ovation for both players and we look at

their head to head, Rafa has the advantage, 11-6 but they have only

met once this year, on clay and Andy got his first victory over Rafa, a

big win in Madrid. It certainly was, that was on his way to the mink his

second clay title back to back, his first title back to back, his first

titles five years, the surprise is they have only played five times,

being top of the game, you would think they would play more than

that. It is an interesting matchup, Rafa is a lefty and playing with so

much top-spin, if you are going to compete well against him as a

right-hander, you need a good at hand and that is where I think

Federer in the past has struggled because there is so much spin on

Rafa's forehand Ross court, that is where Murray can have success

because he can step in and use his left hand on his two-handed backhand

and get on top of the ball. It will be fascinating to see who will

dictate the play today. Andy has a great record against lefties? I did

not hear you. He has a great record against left-handers, if not Rafa.

You think of Federer dealing with the high return on the forehand and

all of those victories he was denied because Rafa came along, Novak with

his double hander and Andy have worked out what they want to do.

They can flatten it out and go to Rafa's strength, his forehand before

going to his backhand side, tactically I think that will be

interesting to watch today. It is a match that Murray starts as a narrow

favourite but who knows what will happen. Great to see Rafa back in

form, demolishing Stan Wawrinka in the first match, if a player wins in

straight sets, they will be through to the semifinal. Gentlemen, welcome

to the O2, we have umpires covering all the lines, Hawk-Eye is

operational, it would be helpful if you make your time just clear and

quick, preferably a verbal challenge to avoid any doubt and finally we

have TV changeovers. Heads or tails? It is tails. Heads.

Today it is the Nastase group in action and we are looking forward to

this one, Murray against Nadal, Stan Wawrinka this afternoon against

David Ferrer, they both lost their opening matches in straight sets so

that is an elimination match, the second one on tonight. If Murray or

Nadal win in straight sets, they will go through and join Roger

Federer, Djokovic has not been beaten indoors for three years but

we saw last night that all records are there to be and Federer did

that. He finished it off in style. He said he got lucky with a top-spin

forehand down the line but that is magnificent, he has volleyed a great

deal more under Stefan Edberg, keeping the points short when he

can, that was just a gorgeous shot last night, I replayed that at home.

It is just a beautiful thing to watch him play well and he knows

full well that he can play Djokovic again later in the week and he knows

Djokovic can play a lot better than that but it was turning back the

clock again, just what Roger once, moments and tournaments like this.

So many Federer fans, it feels like a home tie for him, he takes on Kei

Nishikori tomorrow, that is the match tomorrow afternoon on BBC Two

at 2pm and then Djokovic against Berdych, all four players, the other

three players all have a chance statistically of going through. I

have some sort of idea, if Nishikori beats Federer, he then needs Berdych

to beat Djokovic and then if Federer wins and Berdych beats docker vitch

in straight sets, Federer and Berdych go through. It is

complicated. How many years have we done this? It never gets easier, let

other people worry about the maths, we talked a little bit about Rafa

and how his confidence was down. But there are signs in the past two

months that he is getting back, belief is so important. They talk

about the physical side but the belief and confidence to win the big

point is the difference between a good player and a great one. The

ironic thing, with the mental side of things, when Rafa's confidence

went down, it affected so many aspects of his game, he was not as

aggressive on the forehand and it dropped a bit shorter and so his

opponent could be more aggressive and make Rafa do the running. When

you are playing with more pressure, it affects your movement, you do not

feel as free or as fast, it is sort of a snowball effect that he is

going the wrong way but I am delighted to hear how he spoke about

the passion and how he wants to get back to playing at an exceptionally

high level and he has started to do that. Irrespective of what happens

at this tournament, we can expect big things in 2016. Let us hear

about how he's getting that passion back for tennis because he spoke

yesterday. I am enjoying my tennis more than a couple of months ago

because I feel more relaxed on court. That is the most important

thing that I needed to fix. Fix it, go on court and play and see what I

can do to compete against an opponent. A lot of moments in the

season I was thinking about what I had to do to play OK, not thinking

what I had to do to beat the opponent and now it is different. I

worked on my game. Is your hunger for success your appetite for the

sport, as strong as always was? You know a little bit, when you come

back from know a little bit, when you come

motivation to be back to your best is very hard. I do not know if I

will make that happen but my motivation and my passion for what I

am doing is 100% and I have the motivation to really keep going and

end this season on a high level. He certainly has that, the hunger. We

will ask on social media, do you think he will win another Grand

Slam? Many times over the last few years, the body has let him down. He

has. You lose rhythm and belief, he is the kind of guy who needs a lot

of matches to feel comfortable on court. I never thought I would see

Nadal lose confidence, especially on the big points but that happened

this year. He is human after all, is he going to win another slam, a good

question, his record dropped to 70 wins and two losses at the French

Open over his career by losing to Novak Djokovic. 70-2, I suspect he

will win a 10th French. That is the thing, once he gets the confidence

back on the clay courts, he could be unbeatable again. Very much so, hard

courts will always be more of a challenge but the way he moves and

the technique he has on the shots with so much spin and power, that

will always be effective on a clay court. They have been such happy

hunting grounds for him, as Andrew said, he can win another French

Open, that is for sure. As for this match, Andy Murray beat David Ferrer

in straight sets and looked good in that match. He did, the last six

games were very impressive, the early part of the match was a bit in

and out, his concentration came and went a bit but when he got that

controlled aggression from 3-1 down in the second set to win it am a

those are good signs. It is or is a tough matchup against Rafa but he

does have a good record against lefties and his favourite server is

out wide and slow, the other is going into Rafa's weaker side, when

Murray goes to the forehand, he has to go there with strength and make

sure that he does not give Rafa an opportunity to play his best shot

and make Rafa beat him with his backhand. You talk about

motivation, Andy Murray, a win would secure the number two spot in the

world rankings and that is a big achievement and mix the difference

for the seedings for the Australian Open. He would not be in Djokovic's

ha. He has never finished as high as number two in the year and rankings

so there are many things to play for and a by-product of that is the

second seed at the Australian Open so fingers crossed. It has been a

really good year for him, you always judged by Grand Slam victories but

when you look at what he has done, particularly in the Davis Cup as

well, he has had an outstanding year. It has been absolutely

outstanding, you reflect back to this event 12 months ago when he

lost 6-1, 6-02 Roger Federer and there were huge questions about his

game and the style he was playing, was his back 100% and the

relationship with Amelie Mauresmo but he has bounced back in brilliant

style. He started off in Australia playing the final playing extremely

well and he built on that for the Davis Cup and it has been an

incredible achievement and hopefully they can finish it off in Belgium.

That is the Davis Cup final which you can see live on the BBC. We will

ask a question about Rafa and whether he can win another Grand

Slam. Get in touch with us at hashtag BBC tennis or via our

Facebook page. Many ways to get in touch and we love to hear from you.

Tim is on his way and Andrew Castle is already in the commentary box, it

is all yours. COMMENTATOR: I reckon they have turned the volume up here

in the O2, 17,000 plus in the house. The sound system really booming out,

they do just about every form of entertainment it, one of the most

successful venues in the world, Madonna will be here soon. Some big

bands to look forward to but I do not think it gets much better than

watching Rafael Nadal play. The same can be said of Andy Murray. World

number two plays the world number five in a group match. Best of three

sets. Both winners in their first matches and another chance to assess

the form of one of the all-time greats as he regains his joy for the

game of tennis. 0-0. 15 drop shots against David Ferrer

the other day, Andy Murray. He likes to mix it up, he talks about the

importance of speed and says it is a little bit quicker than Paris on

this court than a couple of weeks ago.

It was a driven backhand from Andy Murray on Nadal's forehand side but

it was on the line. If you are struggling a little bit

with your confidence, there will always be more nervous tension at

the start of a match. That is a rogues gallery, look at that.

Struggling with a little bit of confidence can create a bit of

nervous tension, particularly at the beginning of a match. Rafa making a

couple of unforced errors, this is a good opportunity for Murray to stamp

his authority. And that is the end of that. A quick

break to Andy Murray in this clash of champions this afternoon. Great

stuff. It used to be with Roger Federer trying to get that ball down

to the Rafa forehand, the heavy top-spin forehand and could not get

it down or control it with the racket either, really struggled on

that side, these boys came along, Murray and Djokovic with a double

handed backhand and their physicality and they can cope now

with Nadal. The game has moved on in five, six, seven years. The game has

moved on but when you look at Rafa's game now, he is not hitting

it quite as hard or as much spin or as close to the line so it is a

slightly easier proposition. In years gone by when you got into

baseline exchanges, you felt that Rafa was managing proceedings but

you saw in that first game it was Murray's choice how the points were

played. And on this surface, a platter, hard ball is that much more

effective. That is Murray's bread and butter

served, the down the middle on the ad side of the box, particularly to

Rafa's two-handed backhand, it is also important member to serve and

volley occasionally to Nadal guessing.

That was a bit of a wild one, wasn't it?

Mr Murray is challenging the call on the baseline, it was called out.

Went for the change of direction Andy Murray and he finds the net, it

is a break of serve will a couple of uncharacteristic errors

from Andy Murray in that game as he tried to consolidate the game he

achieved in Game one. It already feels physical, doesn't it? A big

rally to open up that game a sign of Nadal's intent, 25 shots. Not a

first serve made in his first service game Nadal he needs to find

his rhythm on the delivery. Mr Nadal is challenging the call on

the service line. The ball was called out. Murray just making the

point, how long will he take? As it catches the outside edge of the line

which Murray suspected no doubt. Just making a point to the umpire in

the chair. Rafa takes his time with everything, between points and

challenges. Murray is being really talkative at

them and, a sign of nerves? Did not look nervous when he broke serve in

the first game, probably more frustration, being up a game and

30-15. Have a look where this forehand

lands. That is a ball that Murray has got to step into. 89 mph and so

easy as well. Murray was right to pull his trigger

on a backhand in the last rally but that one he was not quite in

position and would not be the right position and accelerate that, you

will not be in the right position. That is page one of the Nadal

playbook, a first serve and despatching the short forehand.

Murray is still talking to his camp over there, he is definitely

agitated at the moment and he is not afraid to say to the umpire about

how long he took to challenge and between points, it is part of the

contest out there in establishing territory at the beginning of a

match. When you talk about Murray being agitated, we have been in the

match 12 minutes and played three games. You are right but what I am

saying is, why? It is unnecessary because it is not doing himself any

favours, he was up a break and 30-15 on his serve and he has lost seven

of the next eight points and when he is distracted and has this dialogue

going back and forth from the box he is not concentrating on the next

point and when you play one of the greats of the games, you have to

have 100% focus every point. Rafa, his achievements are fabulous, what

a generation. Was he taking a little trim there. Who was it the other day

had a cup of Coffey out there, Stan Wawrinka. He has taken quite a lot

off there. Cutting his own hair on court. Always looking at ways to

save costs. The vibration damper has fallen out.

Definitely speeding up and flattening out the forehand.

Against Ferrer he talked about playing himself in. I don't think he

felt under threat against Ferrer at any point. This is a very different

match for him. He certainly needs to make sure he is proactive in the

rallies. We talk about the offensive skills

of these players but I think it is the defensive ones that separate the

best players and Murray's backhand was the defining factor of that

point. Has not found his first serve read

them yet. Rafael Nadal, just five first serves in out of 13 attempts.

Under pressure from the back of the court.

Big change of direction in that rally for Nadal. He had the guts to

go on the offensive with that two hander.

Certainly pretty warm out there with the amount that Nadal is perspiring.

An intense start. We are settling in nicely here for a spectacular

afternoon. Rafael Nadal went down to number ten in the world earlier this

year. He is back up to number five. This is his record. It is just

amazing. Nine titles in the French Open. Just two defeat there. He has

won absolutely everything, including the Olympic gold medal, the Davis

Cup in Seville as a 17-year-old. 27,000 people, as far as I remember.

He has never won the World Tour Finals. That is the record. 27

titles in the Masters. I think he's got a legitimate point

when he talks about this being on clay. There is no chance of it being

on clay in London. That is the great man. The sport has been lucky to

have him. He's got a tennis academy that he's

starting. There were times this year when

people were talking about the possibility of him not being at the

top of the game for too much longer. I think those thoughts are

disappearing. That was probably the same people who said Roger Federer

should retire about three years ago. That's right.

Just helped by the net cord. What is he saying to the umpire? Murray was

complaining about Nadal taking too much time, the umpire said the court

needs to be dry because of how much he is sweating. I think Andy Murray

was asking rather sarcastically whether he could have the court

dried. Good to see his dad here. Captain

Leon Smith from the Davis Cup as well. I wonder if he will pick him

next week. Concentration is not where it should

be. You cannot help but think, how deep does Andy Murray want to dig

this week? How much do you want to win five matches ahead of the Davis

Cup final? It is not ideal. As demanding on the concentration as

anything. He has got down to a game point up.

The players have been to the net nine times so far.

Take your time, get a warning. The scrum told by the amount of time

rather than a Dallas taking. This is what happens at a live

event. He is very cross, he is getting the runaround here, and it

is a break point to Nadal again. Masseuse, captain, dad, website

organiser... It is a big business. There is the difference between

Nadal now and Nadal before. He will hate that he misses those shots with

an opponent struggling with concentration.

Can guarantee finishing in the highest position ever. If he wins

this match. Very likely to finish this excellent year with the highest

ranking ever. The first and the third point,

controlled aggression. Irrespective of whether Murray wins or loses the

point, that is the way he can construct it.

Instead of saying, good first serve, focus on the next point, you

still hear this dialogue going back and forth to the box.

It is great hitting from Rafael Nadal, absolutely exploding on the

forehand side. There is uncle Toni, has been his coach ever since day

one. Did not have any sort of knee jerk reaction when the form dropped,

stayed loyal to family. Baseline rallies, when they go over nine

shots, being won by an adult. -- I Ferrer. -- being won by Nadal.

New balls, please. On the women's tour, the coach can come on and have

a word with their player. The men opted not to go with that. No help

from the outside. We all know that a little bit of communication comes in

from the outside. Would anybody be able to say anything to Andy in that

situation? He has always been somebody who has had a word with

people and he expresses his frustration. We talk about it

because it hurts his game. That is right. When you talk about

communication and you say there should not be any communication

coming from the outside into the court, I am not sure there is much

communication coming that way but there is a lot of communication

going from Murray back to his camp, and it does not do him any favours.

When he construct the point, hit the ball, stepped in with clarity and

dictates, key plays his best tennis, and when he does not, when he loses

his focus and starts complaining, that is when he makes life difficult

for himself. Is some of this to do with the fact of what is coming next

week? It is huge. It is huge, he has played in huge events most of his

career. Whether it is Wimbledon or the World Tour Finals or the Davis

Cup finals, he has always played every match to win it with 100%

effort. This is no different. If a court went on the court to have a

conversation with him, the coach is not going to tell him anything he

has not heard before -- if a coach went on the court.

has not heard before -- if a coach his mind back on the next point and

once that has been played he needs to concentrate on the point after.

Simple as that. Both players felt that was over the

top of the net. Will not help Andy Murray's state of mind.

Another example of small margins in tennis matches.

It is a way, played the point so well, excellent construction. A

pretty decent lob from Nadal to push Murray into a difficult overhead, a

couple of break points here. Rafa, checking the court, the ball

does leave a bit of a mark. Nadal just trying to keep the ball

on the length on the forehand side, just overdoing it, managed to get

out of the way of the second serve on the return. Two break points

saved by Murray. He has faced a crisis in this set,

he has really knuckled down, hasn't he? Happy to go to Nadal's forehand

hard and flat. Four straight points, Murray Dixon

self out of the hole, it is for-4. I tell you what, concentration in or

out but he has been up against it and produced. An excellent set of

tennis, almost 50 minutes played, a round robin match in the

season-ending finale of the ATP Tour. Nadal unable to be here last

year, to have his appendix out. So good to have him back.

It is long, this time a clenched fist from Rafa Nadal at the end of

the game, a nice hold. Recent finals for Nadal in Beijing and Basel,

losing to Djokovic and Federer, that will have helped his confidence as

we talked about but he has gone a whole year without beating

Djokovic, Federer or Murray. You would not have picked that at any

time, even recovering from appendicitis, this is an important

match for him, he would love to finish the year with some success

and build a bad form for 2016. Exactly that, it is a great

achievement to qualify for this year and championship but Rafa already

has his mind on the beginning of 2016 to hit the ground running and

this is about momentum as well. Certainly the way he is playing, his

game is moving in the right direction again. Murray saving a

couple of break points in his previous service game, Nadal would

have served for that first set so this is a really tight match. And

they will have noted what happened in the other group last night, Roger

Federer defeating Novak Djokovic, the first time in three-year is, 38

matches, that Djokovic has lost indoors. Federer in great form,

winning this on six occasions, Novak going for four in a row. A superbly

staged event at the O2 and we will be here until 2018 with this event

at this time of the year. We are really coming down to the nub of

this first set, 4-5. Somewhat surprised to see Murray has

not used the serve and volley a little bit of a change-up, just a

variation. Mr Murray challenging the call on

the baseline, the ball was called out.

first serve percentage down at 48%. Really need to find it now, this

first serve. What a pleasing piece of matchplay

from Rafa Nadal, absolutely going for it, three or four months ago he

was pushing those back into play and hoping, he absolutely went after

that second serve. Three set points. It is a break to love and it is the

first set to Rafa Nadal. You cannot say it was against the run of play,

he deserved that, 6-4. Murray will have to come back from a set down in

this clash of the Titans here. He will have to dig deep in this match

and his final group match and then next week we cannot wait for this.

In 2004, Rafa won it for the first time. That moment was so special.

Novak winning it in 2010. It gives you incentive and motivation. Last

year, Roger won it. Definitely one of the big parts of my life as a

tennis player. So did Stan. It was a dream. Can Andy and company follow

suit, the Davis Cup final, Belgium against Great Britain from next

Friday. Looking forward to that, such a big week and pressure on Andy

Murray particularly but also on Jamie Murray in the doubles but they

have done so well to get through to the final and you will be able to

see that next week. Also coming up on radio five live tomorrow at

8:30pm, the Wilderness years about the Davis Cup, you can hear from

Andy Murray, John Lloyd and Tim Henman about the years that Great

Britain have struggled in the Davis Cup and the struggles they have had.

Right back to today and the preparation Andy has had, switching

from clay to the hard court in the last week has maybe been playing on

his mind and we talk about the immense pressure and he has said how

much he wants to win this Davis Cup for Great Britain, immense pressure

on his shoulders but he has to find a way to win, he is one of the great

competitors but up against an inspired Rafael Nadal today, great

match and super tennis as well. COMMENTATOR: It is an intense battle

between these men, looking at their head to head, 21 times, Nadal

winning 15 of those contests, losing six. Murray has won six times, in

the Grand Slam championship, it is 7-2 in Nadal's favour. Earlier this

year, Murray inflicted a heavy defeat on Spain, on clay in Madrid

against his opponent here. Has to come back from a set down now. Any

tactical changes you would call for here? I do not think there is

anything wrong with the tactic Murray tried to implement, nothing

wrong with his game or physically, he just has to focus is mined and

cut out all the distractions away from the side of the court and focus

on each point. If you looks to dictate, stay in the rally and hit

the back and down the line when he gets the chance and play strong to

the forehand and then he can turn this match around. If he continues

to be distracted Rafa is too good. Was not happy with his second serve

returns against David Ferrer the other day, he was quick to say so.

Just having a little go at himself again there, Murray, about the

length of the second serve returns. But of the court with nothing on it,

did not come out of the middle. Is the mumbling going to Jonas

Bjorkman. It is irrelevant who it is going to. Not if he is employing

you. But then he is not focused on the job in hand.

That is a tough point. Working last week from the back of the court with

Ross Hutchins who just had the half court with Ross Hutchins who just

had the hard court to defend but getting the heart rate over 180 and

maintaining technique. Just the sort of rally where you see the work that

they have done in the rally. " Should be doing that all day."

Listen, you are paying, let us do it all day. It is a relevant but he is

paying his coach for his trainer or anything, he is the one in control

so if he is saying to do it all day then do it all day.

Just one of those days for him at the moment, he is still in this

match and striking the ball well and as fit as he has ever been, no

problems with the back, reckons he has got

problems with the back, reckons he for the Davis Cup next week.

Would not be the first player to come off and the little bit

embarrassed about the way things have

embarrassed about the way things concentration is not the, that is

the trouble with tennis, you are out there alone, no one to rely on. That

is why we talk about the three elements of the game, technical,

physical and mental. And right now, Murray has the technical and the

physical but the mental side of things is letting him down. Nadal is

taking advantage of it. And he is too good to be beaten if Murray is

not 100% focused. The last game that Murray served of course was the

break that took the set for Nadal. Evidence of a sharp match mind.

And this dangerous five or ten minutes, if Murray is not as present

as he needs to be in this match against somebody who does but

however, he can turn it around at any second.

Momentum, 14-4 out of the last 18 points, it is all with Rafa at the

moment. Not often you see Murray lose eight

points in a row on his serve will how would you like to ask the first

question in a press conference after this? I think it will be a fairly

simple one. What went wrong? The knock on effect of the mental

side without the clarity of thought, Murray serving at 41% first

serves. And only winning 56% when the first serve those in, 39% on the

second serve. In Nadal's mind, when Murray is

making an force is, he will be patient to stay in the rally and not

miss but when he has got the opportunity to drive the forehand,

he has the confidence and the platform in the match to go for it.

A set and 3-0, Nadal, number five in the world at the moment. He has

finished the year at number one before, Novak Djokovic has made that

his home lately and he will be the end of the number one for the fourth

time, if Andy Murray wins this match for the last group match against

Stan Wawrinka he will finish the year at number two, that would be a

high for him. Federer needs to go through this tournament unbeaten to

perhaps take over Andy Murray but it is in Andy's hands at the moment.

This is the top eight in the world. Andy has been distracted over the

course of this match in the last 15 or 20 minutes, very disappointing

indeed for him. Relevance for next week and the Davis Cup final,

probably none. What do you think? No relevance at all but Murray will be

frustrated and if this match continues in the same vein he will

be disappointed with his performance. He has had a great year

but he just needs to try and regain that focus. Not easy to do when you

give your opponent a set and a break start, and Rafa playing better. We

have focused on Andy for obvious reasons but Rafa making very few

errors and hitting the ball powerfully from the back of the

court and moving exceptionally well on a hard court.

You would think this is a must win game for Andy Murray.

When you get 40-0 up, you want to finish the game. Now it has turned

into a bit of a scrap, this one. You've got to think you will get a

look at Nadal's service game. Judged the top-spin well, Nadal, but

his racket up nice and quickly. Murray played a nice, delicate

slice. He had the easy approach shot.

When you see Murray in this frame of mind, I always think, if he played

his matches with nobody watching, nobody in his player's box, if they

were sitting backstage, how that would affect his mindset. There was

no one to talk to. The crowd are absolutely ready to support him. A

lot of matches have been lost from this point of view, so for Rafael

Nadal, he knows there is nothing to be taken for granted. A couple of

decent swishes of the racket. There might be life in this match yet. He

is always a great competitor, he will not give up on that. He has got

great returns. Looking at the stats, Nadal has not served particularly

well, we'll see if he can take advantage.

This freezes him up to take more risks, because he is leading.

It is a fourth break of serve in this match for Rafael Nadal, he is

in complete control. He will serve for a victory over Andy Murray that

will be important to him. This is a sign of this continued improvement.

It has been a hungry performance. Competitive. If you had said before

this group started that Nadal would win his opening match is against

Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray for the loss of ten games...

Looking to put the finishing touches on this match.

The ball dropped in on the baseline.

Whatever happens here, you can still go through to the semifinals.

It has been a strange hour and a half in many ways for Rafael Nadal.

So many superb competitive matches. This victory will be a very portable

and for him. He has a match point. And that is it. Great to see Rafael

Nadal back in London. Last time he was here it was so disappointing.

Nadal back in London. Last time he returns and is playing with hunger

and fire and finally some confidence. Never bad to see him

play. One of the greats of our sport. No good today for Andy

Murray, whose concentration certainly was not there. Had his

moments, but ultimately not able to dig very deep. Very distracted

performance at times. He has one more match to play against than the

brink on Friday. I am glad to see he is taking the time to sign a few

autographs. That is good, that is classy. He will qualify today if

Stan Wawrinka defeats Ferrer or Ferrer defeats Stan Wawrinka in

three sets. He is odds-on favourite to go through. As a match, this did

not really exist. The number is not good enough anywhere down the

left-hand side. Bratton Adele made so few unforced

errors in that second set. He tightened things up. -- Rafael

Nadal. Big victory for him in terms of his

confidence. This man, with Olympic gold, all the

Championships, he has never won this. I wonder if this is his week?

Impressing his mum, his girlfriend, 70,000 people in here -- 17,000.

Well done, that was a terrific performance. Can you give us your

thoughts on the matter? First of all, thank you very much, I have

been playing against a local player but always the crowd is

unbelievable, respectful for everybody, just great to play here

again. Thank you very much. For me, it is an important day, one of the

best victories of the season, without any doubt. I am happy with

the way that I am playing. There are so many layers to your matches. It

was very tactical. What areas of the game work particularly well today? I

think I played particularly well in general. I said the tactic is to

play well. He is not a player you can think, I am going to hit against

his forehand or backhand because he has all the shops. The only way to

damage him is to play with high-intensity. I don't think I

played with many mistakes. I am working hard. It is important for me

to see these kinds of results. Well done today. We wish you the very

best of luck in the next one. Rafael Nadal. You can hear from the warmth

of the applause, how much they love him here and love seeing him back to

his best. It does not mean it is over for Andy, he still has a chance

to qualify for the semifinals. We have a very special ceremony on

court, Lleyton Hewitt has announced he will retire this year, please

welcome the ATP president who will present him with this award and

please welcome John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Mats Wilander. It is

great to see them come on court. This is a special presentation to

Lleyton Hewitt, who is retiring from the game at the Australian Open in

January. Please welcome onto court, Lleyton Hewitt.

I have always admired him a lot. He has acted on court. He is what every

young kid should look up to. The kid of six or nine years old. I would be

getting them to watch. He will look back on his career and think that he

gave it everything. Has been very good first really in tennis.

Everybody respects him for what he's done and achieved. I wish him all

the best on his retirement and congratulations on his career. And

Chris will now present Lleyton Hewitt with his frame.

This must be a very proud moment for you. How do you look back on such an

amazing career? I feel old. I am lucky enough to sit courtside. It is

how the game keeps evolving over the years. I look back at when I was

able to play in the Masters Cup. Hold up the trophy. I'm looking

forward to finishing at the Australian Open, I would like to

thank Chris and the whole tour for organising this for me today, it has

been such a big part of my life and I have loved every minute of it out

here. Thank you everyone for supporting me. Absolutely, and we

wish you all the best at yours truly supporting me. Absolutely, and we

and open -- at the Australian Open. What are your plans? I have been

appointed the Australian Davis Cup captain, I am still

appointed the Australian Davis Cup to work with some talented players

appointed the Australian Davis Cup coming forward, I loved being out on

appointed the Australian Davis Cup the court and I think I've got

something to offer. He has been such a great ambassador for the game, and

what a record he's got. He has had some great moments and is one of the

great competitors. One was when he tried to do the chest bump. He even

made that competitive. Whoever plays him will need to give body and mind

to knock him out. Does John McEnroe think he is going to be on court for

this event? You don't know. For Lleyton Hewitt, he has had an

incredible career. A horrible opponent, I hated playing him. I

don't know how many times we played, I only beat him once. When you talk

about success and maximising your potential, it's an incredible feat,

what he was able to achieve in the game when power was starting to

dominate. One of his big jobs now is to look after Nick Carey is -- Nick

Krygios. We will see him to look after Nick Carey is -- Nick

quite some time. He achieved against the odds because he is not built

like the other players, he is quite short, quite slight, he had other

weapons. Very much so. He came on short, quite slight, he had other

the scene in Adelaide. You look that his game and thought he was a good

player but is he going to go on to become World War I? I was not sure

-- world number one. His consistency from the back of the court, he was

very quick to get the ball past. That was the recipe for success

very quick to get the ball past. him. But

very quick to get the ball past. has had a catalogue of injuries.

very quick to get the ball past. will be fun to watch

very quick to get the ball past. time. It has evolved because they

are all part of a time. It has evolved because they

the information from them. Yellow that they how the game is run, they

know how it goes. Take advice from people who have been there. There

are governing bodies here. Andy Murray was saying, we have appointed

someone who does not know tennis. Andy Murray says he does not know

tennis so there we go. A lot of us asked about who we would want to

apply for the job, somebody knows a lot about tennis, a lot of people at

the LTA, from different sports and you need someone who understands the

sport. Michael Downey asked me to get involved in that process and at

that stage. So it is your fault? Not yet but you can blame me. He said up

until the Olympics in 2016, there are a lot of people they would like

to talk to involved in different positions and they are reluctant to

talk because they do not want to distract their athletes. That is why

the interim position has been put in place. Once the Olympics takes place

in 2016, there will be a list of people interested in the job and I

would be the first to say if it would be great to have a tennis

person. You want them to have a good understanding of the game. It is

about business antennas, there are candidates already? It is about

participation, we focus so much on performance, I do not know who has

thrown themselves into the hat, I go a little bit blank when it comes to

this stuff because over 40 years or so I have heard it all. I am very

keen on participation getting the numbers are, we have Tim, Greg and

Andy Murray in the Davis Cup final and we have this, and participation

figures have either trodden water or going down. Tennis is not the only

sport where this is a problem. Young people's attention is taken by

mobiles and tablets and everything but that is a battle that needs to

be one for me as well as performance. What about Andy and

Rafa, Andy, it reflects this group format, the way we have seen it with

Stan Wawrinka and Djokovic last night, it does not matter if you do

not win one of these group matches because you can lose and get through

to the semifinals. Not the easy route but it is possible. On

reflection of Andy's performance, that would be the route I would

take, bad day at the office, forget about it, he got off to a good

start, breaking in the first game but when he lost his serve to go

1-1, mentally he was distracted and talking to the box and his

performance went down. The beauty of the round robin format, he still has

a chance of going through to the semifinals. It will be a question of

pushing this to one side and saying this would be your next match,

playing Stan Wawrinka and go out with a much better mindset and

clearer game plan and execute that and get through to the semifinals.

Wood he wants to avoid Djokovic in the semifinals so he wants to come

second in the group. That is the tactic. But Rafa, maybe not back to

his best but getting pretty close. He has talked about the steps he

needs to take, getting victories against the big players is the way

to get confidence back, he played the big points well, the break at

the end of the first set was wonderful, dominating with his

forehand again in the getting length of the forehand which he has not

done for a while and he is going for it. You have to play to win and get

those wins, that is the only way confidence will come back. He

appears to be getting there which is wonderful for the game. That proved

his variety of shots, hitting from the back and moving his opponent

around and that lovely drop shot we have seen so often from Rafa. You

look at who would get the upper hand early on in the rallies and who

could push their opponent further behind the baseline and that is

where I was impressed with how he hit his backhand crosscourt, this

was a second serve return to get three set points and once he regains

that confidence in his game and plays points a bit better and be

more aggressive and go closer to the line, it was a disappointing

performance from Andy but we should not let that detract from how well

Rafa change direction well and played a complete match. It will

surprise no one at the top of the game, Novak, Roger, they have seen

it before but I never thought we would see Rafa struggling but he did

this year and he has had to respond. He loves the game and practice, and

there is no substitute for wins, this was a big one for him today.

Andy is often so good in the long rallies but the long ones like this

were being won by Rafa. You talk about the long rallies, Andy will

usually get the upper hand because he is so good, he is one of the

game's greats. To me, Rafa was impressive, he stayed in with his

backhand crosscourt a lot, and when he could get his forehand into play,

that is when he would be at his most aggressive. Two steps forward and

takes the ball just inside the baseline and change direction up the

line. That is as good as Rafa can play on an indoor hard court. How

did our poll go in the end as to whether he would win another slam, I

cannot imagine he will not get himself into position,

quarterfinals, semifinals, once he does that, getting comfortable on

the forehand and the defence of the backhand, why not? We talked about

the comments he made in Miami and getting nervous on the big points

and pointing out that he has not beaten the big three this year which

is unheard of until today. He just showed on the big points how strong

he is and strong mentally again. Very much so, when you reflect back

to that press conference in March, he was brutally honest and it was

slightly surprisingly an athlete because it was almost as if you

saying there is a weakness your armoury. He is not honest and says

everything is fine, everyone will look and say that he is not, missing

shots that he never used to miss. But that sums up Rafa, what you see

is what you get. He has not necessarily changed anything away

from the court, he has always worked fantastically hard but now he has

gained a bit of momentum in tournaments. He has played some

better matches, the final in Basel where he lost to Federer and be

confidence coming back to his game and that will be reflected in the

way he plays the big points. Andy has to go back and regroup and play

Stan Wawrinka. World number two is still up for grabs, you need is two

wins so he needs to beat Stan and Federer is now still unbeaten, if he

goes unbeaten through to the final, he would be world number two. This

match, you can say is over but Stan has something to prove as well, he

played poorly against Rafa, Rafa has the hex on people so far. Do the

press, stay patient with all of the stupid questions we ask and come

back on Friday and he will be fine. Speak for yourself. You ask the

smart ones soon. We are going to talk Davis Cup now and Jamie Murray

will come in and chat with us. Am I out? We will do musical chairs but

we have the big Davis Cup final coming up next week. In 2004, Rafa

won it for the first time. That moment was maximum. Novak in 2010.

It inspires you to play your best. Last year, Roger won it. Won one of

the big moments of my life. So did stand. For me it was a dream, to

play for your country is so special. This year, can Andy and company

follow suit? Belgium across Great Britain across the BBC from next

Friday. We cannot wait, what a journey it has been and we will be

heading off for that next week and coming up tomorrow at 8:30pm on

radio five live you can listen to the wilderness years. Tim Henman,

John Lloyd and the wilderness years. Tim Henman,

years gone by in the Davis Cup but it will all get a bit nerve wracking

next week. I am nervous, I don't know how you are feeling Jamie. I am

looking forward to it, it will know how you are feeling Jamie. I am

great week for the guys. A lots of hard work has gone into it in the

last few years since Leon took over, we were in the lower divisions

of the over, we were in the lower divisions

in a lot of hard work and the team deserves to be in this position. You

have played in some crucial doubles matches, some of them very tense,

which one has been the worst? Won the Australian one, against France

we played well but Australia we played well but it was such an epic

match, peaks and troughs and ups and downs. We knew we had to win to make

it happen and somehow we managed to get through in five sets. The fourth

set was pretty tense, wasn't it? Yes, I've weigh myself of that,

letting them come back into it, because I knew Andy had to play

singles next day and he was battling a bit with his back and I felt bad

for keeping him out there on court. He played an amazing three sets

against Bernard Tomic. It shows what the Davis Cup means because Sam

Groth, he got so tense in that fifth set alongside Lleyton Hewitt. Yes,

the other 48 weeks of the year, you are out there as an individual but

when you are playing in Davis Cup, you are representing your country

and all of your team-mates on the side of the court. It is a different

and all of your team-mates on the type of pressure and it is amazing

what we talk about, the journey the British team have had this year but

it goes further back as Jamie talked British team have had this year but

about with Leon getting involved and being Davis Cup captain. There have

been bumps along the road but the team has been incredible and the

opportunity they have now in Belgium is incredibly exciting. As we all

know, home court advantage is important so we should emphasise the

challenge of going away and playing indoors on clay will not be easy.

There will be outnumbered 9-1 in the crowds with most of the audience

being for Belgium but it will be great to watch. That goes again, you

have had three home ties and now you can't see those wonderful fans, I am

sure a few Brits will go. We were due an away tie, it was great to

play at home to get to this stage but another challenge for us and it

will be difficult away from home and playing on clay will not be so easy

but the team believes in itself and we have come a long way. We want to

finish the job. It is huge, you sound so relaxed like it is another

tournament, Davis Cup final, last in the final in 1978, not one it since

1936. Andy has talked a bit. But are you feeling the pressure as it gets

closer? People keep talking about it and asking so it is on your mind

that I have had this tournament to focus on as well which is a big end

of year event for us which gives my mind off it a bit. When everything

is done here, I will turn my attention to Belgium. Who is the

captain when you are on court with Andy? I think it is me if I am

honest. For the most part until I start suggesting where he serves and

then it changes. You seem to have a great knowledge, you did not play a

lot of doubles together? Not so much when we were growing up but we

played quite a lot since we have both been on tour, I have even

helped getting into some of the Masters tournaments. We know exactly

how each other is going to play, strengths and weaknesses on the

court and what to expect from each other and that gives you confidence

and calmness for when you go out there. We wish you the best of luck

for here and next week, we are all looking forward to it, we will be

back tomorrow at 2pm on BBC Two, Roger Federer against Kei Nishikori

but today, it was not a vintage Murray but it was certainly Rafa at

his best, we hope you enjoyed it, goodbye.

COMMENTATOR: Clash of champions, we are settling in nicely. It is great

hitting, all Rafa at the moment. Murray Dixon self out of the hole,

the first set to Rafa Nadal. He is in complete control in this group

match. And that is it, great to see Rafa

some familiar faces are coming your way.