Andy Murray vs Tomas Berdych: Brit looks to turn up the heat in the cauldron of Wimbledon’s Centre Court

Murray in action during practice on day ten of Wimbledon
Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images
Chris Jones8 July 2016

Tomas Berdych’s career has been dogged by accusations of choking on the big occasions and his suspect temperament will be put to the test again today when he faces Andy Murray in the Wimbledon semi-final with a vociferous home crowd adding to a gladiatorial nature of the match.

Berdych reached the 2010 final and succumbed meekly to Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 13 minutes. That has been the Czech player’s only Grand Slam final despite spending six years inside the world’s top 10, being seeded at every Slam since 2005 and banking more than £19million in winnings.

In contrast Murray has 37 titles and been a runner-up 20 times on the Tour. The Grand Slams are the true measure of a players’ ability and he has reached 10 of those finals, winning the US Open in 2012 and Wimbledon a year later.

Berdych has just 12 titles since he turned professional in 2002, only one of these was a Masters 1000 event, in Paris, while the rest have come lower down the ATP ladder. More significantly, he has lost 17 finals, which confirms the view that when it really matters, the 10th seed doesn’t deliver. He also has a 17-match losing streak against players ranked in the top two.

That is why he kept asking compatriot Ivan Lendl to come out of the coaching exile he imposed on himself after two years spent transforming Murray from the nearly man of Slam finals into a double champion and Olympic gold medallist.

Lendl said he did not have the time to return to the tennis circuit and Berdych had to look elsewhere. After a short period with Dani Vallverdu, who used to coach Murray, he is back on the hunt for the right man to give him the kind of mental edge the British No1 has developed.

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Now, Berdych is preparing to face Murray knowing that the world No2 is again benefiting from the advice and technical help of Lendl, who has changed his mind about returning to the grind of life on the professional men’s tennis tour.

It speaks volumes about the perceived potential of both players that Lendl turned down Berdych but said yes to Murray.

This only adds spice to a contest between two players who have not always seen eye to eye. Even their supporters have got into the act with Kim Murray seeming to mouth her strong view about Berdych during their Australian Open semi-final in 2015.

Berdych insists any problems he has with Murray and his “team” have long been sorted out and the pair are on good terms. However, this semi-final will take them both to the emotional limit.

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Murray showed flashes in the quarter-final win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of his old self, the one that wasted precious energy on ranting and raging before Lendl first joined the team. Murray will be urged to keep those emotion in check, particularly as Berdych will be looking for any signs of weakness in this their 15th meeting.

Their contests started in Basle in 2005 when Murray, barely a year after winning the US Open boys’ title, defeated Berdych in three sets.

Significantly, Murray has won their last four matches and if he continues that run, he will be in an 11th Grand Slam final — a record for a British player since the challenge round was abolished at Wimbledon in 1922. Murray has won all 10 of his matches on grass this year, continuing the form that saw him lift the Aegon Championships trophy for a record fifth time.

WHERE THE MATCH WILL BE WON

Second serve
If Murray has a weak point in his game then it remains his second serve. He won only 50 per cent of the 64 second serves he delivered during his five-set quarter-final victory over Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 51 per cent of the 35 against Australian John Millman in the third round. Opponents can still climb all over it unless Murray delivers a kicker to take it out of the hitting zone. Berdych is tall enough to combat that and will be confident in his own second-serve ability even against the World No2’s brilliant returning.

Mental strength
Murray has proved time and again his ability to come through tough situations while Berdych can be vulnerable under intense pressure. The crowd will be firmly on the British No1’s side today, which will create a fantastic atmosphere, and that could be telling.

Back hand
With Berdych running around his forehand at every opportunity, the Murray back hand down the line becomes a key weapon and when he is striking it with power, the arrow-like accuracy of it can pick an opponent’s game apart. That will be the aim today.

By reaching a seventh Wimbledon semi-final, Murray has equalled the feat achieved by Lendl and world No1 Novak Djokovic, whose reign as champion ended at the hands of Sam Querrey in the third round.

The match will come down to how well Murray returns the Berdych serve as both players need to dominate from the start of the rally. Murray is ranked the sixth best service returner at this year’s Championships while Berdych is down at No64. When it comes to the serve, the Czech has a slight advantage ranked 12th with 56 aces while Murray is 18th having fired down 44 aces.

One area where Berdych does hold a distinct advantage is the use of Hawkeye to challenge line calls. Murray is famously bad at questioning the line calls and has a miserable 20 per cent success rate while Berdych has been right 41 per cent of the time.

When every other measure appears to leave you trailing, this is one statistic that Berdych can feel good about going into the semi-final.

He issued a rallying cry that was delivered more in hope than expectation as he said: “I will try to push him as hard as I can, being aggressive, not giving him the time to create the game.”

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