It was all so different against Richard Gasquet on Monday as Murray came back from two sets to love down to clinch a victory which won the hearts of the Wimbledon gallery. Yesterday, he was a only muted version of that inspired, fist-pumping zealot.
A match which began in a carnival atmosphere ended on a subdued note as the disconsolate British No 1 slumped to a tired and ragged defeat by an opponent who dictated play throughout. A more realistic challenge for the Wimbledon title will have to wait for another year.

Murray has talked up his chances of winning Wimbledon, but on this evidence he has a long way to go to overhaul an opponent of Nadal's obvious class.

To be fair, he was probably drained by his match against Gasquet. But this was a salutary lesson on how far he has to go to give the British tennis public the champion they have craved since Fred Perry in 1936.

Rain making an unwelcome appearance after eight blissful days, Wimbledon had to wait all day for the two players to arrive on court.

Federer continued his unruffled progress through the tournament on a damp and gloomy afternoon when his straight sets win over Mario Ancic was interrupted for over two hours .

Then, at 6.15pm, it was time for the quarter-final which was the biggest match in Murray's short career.

It never went right for the Scot. He rallied stoically from the baseline, swapping shot for shot, but rarely taking command of the rallies. It was Nadal who found the depth and angles which left Murray stranded and exposed.

Would there be a glorious comeback from Murray after losing the first two sets? He tried, but looked tired and the occasional clenched fist was a wan parody of Monday's match- winning passion.

It was perhaps expecting too much of Murray to do it all again in the turmoil of the Centre Court. He never stopped trying, but he was never going to out-rally the Majorcan from the baseline and his forays to the net usually ended in disaster. Significantly, he never reached break point on Nadal's service.

Maybe we were all expecting a miracle to happen on a wet afternoon at Wimbledon.

But the 6-3 6-2 6-4 outcome reflected the general drabness of the day, although the sun which broke through in the evening came just in time to illuminate an overwhelming Spanish victory.