Nadal still too strong for Murray

Updated 08.02 Sun Jul 27 2008

Keywords: Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal

Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal beat British number one Andy Murray at the Rogers Cup in Canada.

Murray, who overcame world number three Novak Djokovic for the first time in five attempts on Saturday, matched the Spaniard stroke for stroke for long periods but was ultimately found wanting as Nadal won 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 to reach the final.

The Scot, who has now lost all five meetings with the world number two, failed to avenge his quarter-final mauling at Wimbledon but can take heart from a much-improved display

The Scot, who has now lost all five meetings with the world number two, failed to avenge his quarter-final mauling at Wimbledon but can take heart from a much-improved display.

The win was Nadal's 28th in a row and it appears only a matter of time before he usurps Roger Federer as world number one.

The Spaniard hit fewer than half as many winners as Murray but the Scot also made more than twice as many errors.

But this was a far cry from their one-sided encounter in SW19, with Murray giving as good as he got from the back of the court.