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Murray's bionic arm no match for Rafa

Andy Murray gave it all against Rafael Nadal - but it wasn't enough © Getty Images

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French Open Day 13 gallery

Federer shatters Djokovic's streak
Brave Murray felled by Nadal

A load of balls
The Babolat balls being used at Roland Garros for the first time have been the subject of debate. They are said to be much faster than the balls used for the rest of the clay-court season and, according to informed sources, do not take as much spin. Rafael Nadal has looked ill at ease at his beloved Roland Garros, before showing fine form against Robin Soderling. He carried the momentum into his clash with Andy Murray and one shot in particular proved that he had worked out the speed and spin of the balls. Midway through the second set, Murray was dominating a point - pulling Nadal across the court. A backhand from Murray kept low and looked a tough play for Nadal, but he raced to the ball, rolled up the side and back of the ball and sent it towards the tramlines, before it whipped back like a Cristiano Ronaldo free kick to catch the line.

Murray's bionic arm
Sportsmen turned actors are thin on the ground. Eric Cantona, Vinnie Jones and a cage fighter by the name of Rampage Jackson trip off the tongue. Andy Murray is unlikely to follow suit while his tennis career is on the up, but he could well get himself a gig in X-Men - judged on his bionic right arm. He advanced to the net after sending a ball deep into Nadal's backhand corner. The world No. 1 likes nothing more than a target to hit past and he flashed a ball across the face of Murray that looked destined to catch the sideline. Murray had other ideas as he flung himself to his right, stuck out his arm and somehow played a sublime drop volley.

Exhibition stuff
Nadal may have won through in three sets, but this was no one-sided romp as Murray made the champion scrap for his life. There was power from the baseline in abundance, but there was also lots of quality guile and craft. If you had just been parachuted in to Court Philippe Chatrier for the 10th game of the second set, you could have been forgiven for believing you were watching an exhibition as opposed to a grand slam semi-final. With Nadal serving to stay in the second set, we had Murray dinking a drop shot, which was followed by a drop shot of his own from Nadal. Murray countered with an acute, angled flick. But he was out-angled by Nadal who brought the crowd to its feet with a sublime flick.

Celebrate in style
Nadal is the ultimate competitor and also one of the game's great sports. He was made to work extremely hard to see off Andy Murray and he celebrated like he had won the tournament. It showed in an instant the respect Nadal has for the Brit, as although the win came in three sets, they were three of the toughest sets Nadal has had at Roland Garros.

Sliding (early) doors
Novak Djokovic was particularly out of sorts in his opening set against Roger Federer, and one of the main reasons for that was his inability to stay on his feet. Yes, here was the all-conquering king of 2011 stumbling around like a toddler, struggling to make it across the clay without putting in a spectacular slide.

Disgruntled Djokovic
Despite all his dominance this year, which has involved the ruthless dismantling of a string of opponents, Djokovic seemed unfazed by the thought of losing in the second set, regularly looking up to his family in the stands and offering an incredulous shrug. But the c'est la vie attitude - good to see him getting into the spirit of things in France - didn't last for long, as he stormed through the third set.

Bee in their boo-net
But it was Federer who claimed the fourth frame - and with it, the win. The tiebreak in which he triumphed gave rise to the unusual sight of the fans in attendance at Roland Garros booing the net cord, which had deviated one of Djokovic's shot out of the reach of Federer.

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