In a transparent bid to curry favour with the partisan British crowd, Nadal collapsed dramatically to the ground at the end of his straight-sets victory over Andy Murray in the Mens singles semi-final, to signal to the spectators that it really had been a titanic mental and physical struggle for the World number one and a very difficult win for him.
After eventually rising to his feet, Nadal shook his head in mock disbelief and covered his face with his hands to indicate that this, his eighth career victory over Andy Murray, was such a happy moment for him, he was almost crying with joy. His coach joined in the ruse by leaping from his chair and fisting the air.
The match, which was over in a little more than 2 hours, was Nadal's 10th Grand Slam semi-final victory, and his 4th at Wimbledon, but nevertheless, he adopted the body language of a first-time finalist that belied the ranking and title success superiority he holds over the Scottish nearly-man, so that the crowd wouldn't turn against him in the final against the Czech underdog, Thomas Berdych.
Leaving nothing to chance, the Spaniard, who was taken to five sets by both his second and third round opponents, commented to reporters afterwards that it was a very tough match, that Murray had pushed him all the way, and that it was a matter of "when not if" Murray wins Wimbledon, adding "I think what you saw today was one of my best performances yet."
