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Nadal: Tennis owed Murray a slam

ESPN staff
December 22, 2012
Rafael Nadal has beaten Andy Murray in four grand slam semi-finals © Getty Images
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Rafael Nadal says he never lost faith that Andy Murray would eventually win a grand slam, suggesting that tennis was indebted to the Scot.

2012: A fine year for Murray

Murray landed his first major title at the US Open in September after a dramatic five-set victory over Novak Djokovic.

Nadal, who is preparing to make his long-awaited comeback after six months on the sidelines with a knee injury, believes Murray's victory at the London 2012 Olympics was the trigger to success in New York.

"I really thought Andy would win the US Open because tennis owed him something. That was my feeling," Nadal told The Times.

"The Olympics was a big change and with the calm of winning that gold medal at home, you go to a grand slam final and you feel that Andy, before the match, believed he was the favourite.

"If you really believe in yourself, it doesn't matter if you were leading by two sets to love and the opponent comes back. I really felt Andy would win, even though you know how much a great champion Djokovic is and how many matches he had saved in difficult circumstances."

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