Fearless Murray set to slug it out with Nadal

EIGHTEEN months ago Andy Murray walked off Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena beaten but with a smile on his face.

He had pushed Rafael Nadal to five-sets in a memorable Australian Open fourth-round match, only to finally succumb to a barrage of the Spaniard's ferocious ground strokes.

"That's my dream, to play in a match like that," he said. "That's the best tennis I've ever played."

Until this week.

Perhaps it underlines Murray's growing stature and belief in his abilities that anything less than advancing to Wimbledon's semi-final in today's repeat encounter will not be considered good enough. "I learned in that one game that I deserved to be on the same court as him and I could play at his level for probably four and a half sets," said Murray.

"I like to think I'm playing a bit better now than then, enough to go the distance this time. However, it's going to be a completely different match to a year and a half ago.

"It's really important to serve well, be aggressive and not let him dictate the rallies. He's the favourite for the match but I think I can win."

In the past there have been questions over Murray's fitness. He certainly fell away in the fifth set of his 2007 encounter with Nadal, winning just one service game. But Murray seemed to get stronger throughout his close-fought win over Richard Gasquet, flexing his biceps at the conclusion to remind his coaches that his fitness regime is reaping dividends.

He spent yesterday taking things easy, spending less than one hour on the practice courts with coach Miles Maclagan.

In between he listened to music with girlfriend Kim, had a massage and worried about being spotted if he took Maggie, his border terrier, for walk.

A keen student of the game, he also spent some time formulating a game plan, taking heart from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's victory over Nadal in Melbourne earlier this year.

In that match Tsonga attacked from the very first point, leaving Nadal no time to settle and breaking his rhythm at every opportunity. However, there are nagging concerns about key elements of Murray's game that will need to be functioning at full capacity this afternoon. While the Scot's serve has become a powerful weapon, his second-serve statistics aren't so impressive.

Gasquet exploited that during the early stages of their match, racing into an advantage that it's highly unlikely the well-drilled Nadal would let slip.

Murray's use of the drop shot has also been criticised, a tactic most use sparingly has become a key part of his arsenal.

"His drop shots are certainly a mixed bag," said Tim Henman.

Henman was 23 when he reached his first Wimbledon semi-final, two years older than Murray is now. He certainly liked what he saw in Murray's fighting victory over Gasquet, a match that captivated centre court and attracted more than ten million TV viewers.

"It's hard to pinpoint one shot that helped him through," said Henman. "Desire was his greatest weapon by the end. All credit to Murray, he'd been outplayed but the biggest thing was that he had the belief to hang in there."

Henman believes Murray will never have a better chance to beat Nadal, predicting another five-setter for an expectant home crowd.

• NATIONAL School Sport Week is a government initiative managed by the Youth Sport Trust and supported by Norwich Union with the aim to engage over three million children in sport, which kicked off on June 30.