Andy Murray says aggression key to beating Tomas Berdych in Wimbledon semi-final
Sunday 10 July 2016 09:45, UK
Andy Murray will be back on the front foot on Friday as he plots a route past Tomas Berdych to a third Wimbledon final.
Murray came through a Jo-Wilfried Tsonga assault on Wednesday to stay on course for a second title at his home Grand Slam, and at one point in the deciding set he could be seen mouthing to his box: 'there's no way I'm losing this match'.
That kind of positive approach has been a feature of his two spells with Ivan Lendl, but Murray insists he was experimenting with more aggressive tactics before the return of his most successful coach.
And nowhere has that aggression reaped a greater benefit than in games against Berdych: Murray has beaten the Czech four times in the past 18 months having lost six of 10 previous meetings.
"I played well against him the last couple of years," the No 2 seed and favourite said ahead of the semi-final.
"It's nice that the players I'm playing against say I'm playing more aggressive because everyone's only said I've played aggressive when Ivan has been coaching me.
"The last few years I have been playing more aggressive tennis, playing with a little bit more variety, for sure. That's worked well against him.
"We've never played on grass before. We've played a few times over the last couple of years on different surfaces, but never on grass.
"I'll have to have a look and see some of his matches to get an idea of maybe some of the things he does differently on the grass courts, what his strengths are, maybe some of the things he struggles with a bit.
"Obviously he's a big guy who serves well. When he's dictating the points, he hits a big, big ball. He's a powerful guy. Ideally, I don't want to have him dictating all of the points because then I'll be doing a lot of running."
Berdych attempted to hire Lendl before his compatriot was reunited with Murray, who acknowledges the edge their partnership can provide during tight matches.
"I think it's beneficial having him there, for sure, because I trust him, have a lot of confidence in him," Murray said. "So, for sure, he can help when I'm on the court a little bit, just his presence. Might be a small amount but every little bit helps.
"The pre-match stuff, the work that you do in preparation for the matches, is where you get the big benefit. When this tournament's finished, the training weeks are really where I think you get the biggest benefit. Hopefully I'll have a few of them between now and the end of the year."
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