WIMBLEDON, England — Rafael Nadal’s left foot is bothering him, and that alone is giving just about every tennis fan in Britain hope that Andy Murray can finally end the nation’s Wimbledon drought.
They will play each other in the semifinals today.
“I’m not worried about my foot,” said Nadal, who beat Murray in the semifinals at the All England Club last year and again at the same stage at the French Open a few weeks ago. “[With] the anesthetic there I don’t feel nothing. I don’t feel the pain.”
Nadal has won the Wimbledon title the last two times he has played, in 2008 and last year, bringing his record to 31-2 since the 2006 tournament.
“Right now everything is to win. I have to enjoy the moment, play aggressive,” said Nadal, who has won 19 straight matches at the grass-court Grand Slam. “Only like this I’m going to have any chance to be in the final.”
In the other semifinal match, second-seeded Novak Djokovic will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The 12th-seeded Tsonga eliminated six-time champion Roger Federer on Wednesday, coming from two sets down to win in five.
But without Federer and his quest to equal the Wimbledon record of seven titles, much of the attention will fall on Murray.
The 24-year-old Scot is trying to become the first British man to win the Wimbledon title since Fred Perry in 1936 and only the second to win at the All England Club in more than 100 years.
No British man has even reached the final since Bunny Austin in 1938.
But Murray is 4-11 against Nadal, including 0-2 at Wimbledon.
“I just have to have a better game plan,” said Murray, who has reached three Grand Slam finals but lost them all. “Sometimes it comes down to strategy. Sometimes it comes down to having more experience.
“Yeah, just have to go out there and play well and serve well and believe and I’ll have a chance.”