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Andy Murray to study Rafael Nadal ahead of semi-final

Eleanor Crooks,Pa
Thursday 30 June 2011 10:42 BST
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Murray was beaten by Nadal at this stage last year
Murray was beaten by Nadal at this stage last year

Andy Murray will swap horror films for video nasties today in a bid to end his losing run against Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon.

The world number four has lost both his previous meetings with the formidable Spaniard at the All England Club in straight sets, most recently in the semi-finals last year.

The pair will face each other at the same stage again tomorrow, and Murray hopes reviewing their previous meetings will help him unlock the secret to defeating Nadal.

The Scot, who revealed earlier in the tournament he watched Scream to take his mind off the tennis, said: "I'll watch a little bit of matches I played against him.

"Also Dani (Vallverdu) will watch matches that Rafa's played here, because obviously everyone makes changes from time to time.

"I don't know exactly which ones. It will probably make sense to watch some of the ones on grass and also some of the ones on the quicker surfaces."

Murray had the easier time of it in the quarter-finals yesterday, beating another Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez, 6-3 6-4 6-4, while Nadal recovered from dropping the third set against Mardy Fish to win 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-4.

Despite last year's defeat and a very similar one in the French Open earlier this month, Murray insists he is more confident than ever that he can beat the world number one and reach a first Wimbledon final.

The fourth seed said: "I believe I can win against him. I had chances last year. I was up a break in the third set, had set point on my serve in the second set. I think there was only one break in the first set.

"We both played good tennis. But I just have to have a better game plan. Sometimes it comes down to strategy. Sometimes it comes down to having more experience. I just have to go out there and play well and serve well and believe, and I'll have a chance."

His quarter-final could hardly have gone any smoother, with Murray in a different league to Lopez for the first two sets before the unseeded Spaniard finally stepped things up in the third.

It was not good enough to derail Murray, though, whose only concern was a slight hip flexor problem he picked up late in the match.

The Scot said: "It was good. I got off to a good start in all of the sets. That helps against someone like Feli because he serves well.

"Normally against the big servers, they like to put pressure on you towards the end of the set. But because I got ahead early in all of them, I was able to dictate the points from the back of the court and played a good match."

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