Murray out-muscled by Nadal

The Scot looked jaded from Monday's epic comeback against Richard Gasquet but there was no doubting his opponent's brilliance as the Spaniard wrapped up a 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory to reach the semi-finals.

Murray had boasted about his fitness and physique throughout the championships but there was only one muscle man on Centre Court as Nadal pounded him into submission.

Playing his first grand slam quarter-final, the Scot never got to grips with the Nadal serve or forehand, never once looking like creating a break point, while the Spaniard lapped up another inconsistent Murray service display.

The chief concern was the Murray serve and if he was in any doubt how consistent it would need to be, Nadal let him know by ripping a return winner off his first second serve of the match in game two.

Murray failed to heed the warning and needed some big serving to save two break points in game six. He looked to have done the same in his next service game but a glaring smash error gifted Nadal the break and the second seed served out the set with ease.

The Scot was taken to deuce in his opening service game of the second set but held thanks in part to his first successful drop shot, a tactic his opponent had already used three times to good effect.

Nadal's vicious forehand was giving Murray all sorts of problems and there was a chink of light when Nadal let a 40-0 lead slip with a double-fault when serving for the set. But it was the tiniest of blips as the Spaniard took a two-set lead.

Murray did himself no favours in the third, dropping his serve from a winning position with some sloppy play in game seven.

Now he had to break Nadal to stay alive but he was no nearer in game eight and needed to win the point of the match with a superb pick-up the following game to make the Spaniard serve it out - which he did to advance ominously towards a third straight Wimbledon final.