Go for the throat Andy and you can beat Rafael Nadal

Brad Gilbert and Andy Murray never enjoyed the best of working relationships. The American coach was employed by the Lawn Tennis Association to turn Murray into a Grand Slam champion but the Scot cut short their partnership halfway through the deal citing his desire to move in a different direction. Gilbert, though, knows Murray’s game better than most and, writing in the Daily Mail, says the world No. 4 should take himself back to the mindset that saw him beat today’s semi-final opponent Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open at the same stage.

My advice to Andy Murray today? Ignore the weight of history on your shoulders and try to think yourself back to that mindset you had when you faced Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open in January.

I am pretty sure Andy can do the former, but the latter is more difficult to achieve. What he needs to find is the balance which we saw that evening in Melbourne when he produced the perfect blend of attacking tennis.

That was the best match I ever saw Andy play (I am sure he would have won even if Rafa had not suffered knee problems after two sets) as he came out with a lethal offensive game that really took the Spaniard by surprise.

He needs more of the same this afternoon because the world No 1 is simply too good not to take advantage if Andy falls back into being too defensive.

There are two specific areas in which the British player really has to perform if he is going to knock over a man who has developed such a fine record on grass.

Key one is that Andy has to have a good day with his first serve. If this is working consistently — up above 60 per cent — then you can make a lot of progress against Rafa, who I have noticed is standing further up the court to receive the first delivery.

You could see when he played Robin Soderling in the quarter-final that he was struggling when the Swede opened up with a high percentage of first serves. But when that dropped, Rafa showed how rough he can be when it comes to attacking second serves. The other key is that Andy has to be aggressive when returning serve himself and try not to allow Rafa to be in a position to dictate the rallies from the off.

The Spaniard simply has too much power off both wings and is particularly brutal from the middle of the court against righthanders, especially when he drives to his opponent’s forehand side with a stroke that is very hard to read.

On absolutely no account can Andy afford to lapse during rallies into his tendency to hit what I call ‘meatballs’, shots that dribble up the middle of the court. Those get killed by Rafa.