For the second time in his career, Berdych is going to play in a Wimbledon semifinal match when he faces Murray this coming Friday. Berdych got the chance following a straight-sets conquest of Lucas Pouille in the quarters, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 6-2.
Berdych has been relying on his impressive service game in the tournament. In fact, he has managed to get at least 60 percent of his first serves inside since his second-round takedown of Benjamin Becker.
Although Berdych is the underdog in Friday’s clash with Murray, don’t expect him to be daunted. After all, he’s faced Murray 14 times before. Berdych’s familiarity playing Murray should be give him the extra confidence to get over the Brit.
Murray was smoothly cruising in the tournament until a big challenge came in the quarters that came in the form of Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. After winning the first two sets, Murray dropped the next two to the Frenchman before taking the fifth set for a 7-6 (12-10), 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1 victory.
For those keeping count, Murray has lost just two sets thus far at Wimbledon and both were against Tsonga. He’s looking to dominate anew against Berdych, whom he has whipped over their last few meetings. To be precise, Murray is 4-0 in his last four matches (8-6 overall) against the Czech. Murray is also the better grass player than Berdych based on record. Murray has an 84.8 winning percentage on grass in his career, while Berdych has 68.8%.
