? Nadal pulls out before semi-final with a knee injury
? Murray has played only seven sets en route to the final
Andy Murray went through to the final of the Miami Masters after his semi-final opponent, Rafael Nadal, withdrew from the match because of a knee injury. Nadal pulled out two hours before the match was scheduled to start because of a left knee injury that had bothered him in recent matches.
It was Murray's second walkover of the tournament, one of the most prestigious outside the grand slam championships. The Scot, ranked No4 in the world, reached the fourth round after his third- round opponent, Milos Raonic, withdrew with an ankle injury.
Nadal, the six-time French Open champion, remains hopeful that the knee injury will not affect his plans for the clay-court season and expects to be fit for the Monte Carlo Masters which begins on 16 April.
The Spaniard has been hampered by knee problems throughout his career and his left knee has troubled him since the Indian Wells tournament. He lost there to Roger Federer in the semi-finals two weeks ago. The world No2 said the injury has been getting worse and extensive treatment on Thursday failed to help but he is optimistic he will be out only briefly.
"I started to have problems on the knee before Indian Wells," Nadal said. "But that problem [was] not limiting me to play at 100%. So I played in Indian Wells with the normal conditions, playing in good shape physically. Here [it] is different.
"It looks like it's nothing really different than happened a few times in the past. Hopefully with a few days off and with the right treatment, I will be in the right conditions to start to practise on the clay. I know what to do to get better quick and that's what we're going to try."
Knee problems prevented Nadal from playing at Wimbledon in 2009 ? the only major tournament he has missed since 2006 ? and forced him to retire from a quarter-final match against Murray at the Australian Open in 2010. Nadal did not play in any tournaments in February. Even then, he said, his left knee bothered him a bit while training at home in Spain.
"I try my best in every moment, with pain or without pain," he said. "But when I see the situation is done and I cannot, I cannot. I am very sorry for the fans. I'm very sorry for the tournament. I'm very sorry for everybody who was ready to watch the match on the television, for television, for everybody. I don't have pleasure. I feel very sad to have to go out before a beautiful match for me ? semi-finals against Andy."
Murray has played only seven sets in the tournament in Miami and will face the world No1 Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final. "I don't really know how I'm going to feel," he said, "but I'll definitely be fresh."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/mar/30/andy-murray-sony-ericsson-rafael-nadal
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