LONDON (Reuters) - French Open champion Rafael Nadal will come up against the burgeoning Andy Murray factor when the two meet in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Wednesday. Favourite Nadal would normally have a good part of the crowd with him as he looks to reach the final for the third time in a row in pursuit of his first All England Club title.
But facing Murray, at 21 a year younger than the Spaniard, on the Wimbledon turf is fast becoming a new phenomenon.
Frenchman Richard Gasquet, the eighth seed and a semi-finalist last year, can bear testimony to that after what he called a Davis Cup-like clash with Murray in the fourth round on Monday.
Gasquet was two sets and 5-4 up and serving for the match yet the 12th-seeded Briton succeeded in simultaneously beefing himself and the crowd up for a remarkable comeback, taking a third-set tiebreak and going on to win 5-7 3-6 7-6 6-2 6-4 in fading light.
"The crowd were awesome," Murray told reporters. "They got behind me...more than ever before...They clearly made a difference at the end.
"Obviously he's the favourite... but I do think that I can win," said Murray, who rates his five-set defeat by Nadal at the 2007 Australian Open as his best performance before Monday's victory.
Number two seed Nadal had an easier passage to the last eight, beating Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-3 6-3 6-1, though he had a scare in the second game which turned out to be no more serious than a muscle twinge at the back of his right knee.
Of more concern for Nadal will be his concentration when the crowd, desperate for a home winner at Wimbledon after the now-retired Tim Henman failed to deliver over the last decade, is audibly behind Murray.
"I know if I play against Andy Murray, probably the crowd is going to be with him," Nadal said before he knew the identity of his quarter-final opponent.
"But I think with me they're going to be nice, too, no?"
Murray must overcome considerable odds against Nadal, champion at Roland Garros the last four years and who has beaten the Scot the three times they have met.
Their first meeting in the fourth round of the Australian Open a year and a half ago was the closest, with Nadal winning 6-7 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-1.
The Spaniard has not allowed Murray a set since then.
LONDON (Reuters) - French Open champion Rafael Nadal will come up against the burgeoning Andy Murray factor when the two meet in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Wednesday. Favourite Nadal would normally have a good part of the crowd with him as he looks to reach the final for the third time in a row in pursuit of his first All England Club title.
