That was a faultless performance by Andy Murray.  | When Andy gets into trouble is when he's reactive, but out there he was dictating the play and making Nadal move |
If that game had been 18 months ago, it would have been Rafael Nadal dominating those long rallies, but that performance shows how much Andy's improved - once the rallies started to get to eight or 10 or 12 strokes, Andy was winning the majority of them. The two best opportunities Rafa had were when he was a break up in each set, and, both times, Andy broke back immediately. It was key that Rafa never got any momentum - probably the most important stage of the match was the second tie-break, that was as good a tiebreak as you'll ever see Technically, Andy's only made a few changes to his game, but that's because it was so sound before. Look at the way he was taking the ball on - when Andy gets into trouble he's reactive, but out there he was being proactive, dictating the play and making Rafa move - and no-one likes having to run around like that on suspect knees. We know Rafa has had bad tendonitis and that he must have been in real pain as he's the last person in the world to pull out of a match otherwise. I think Andy just needs to produce more of the same in the semi-final. It won't be any easy match - Marin Cilic beat him at the US Open last year - but as long as he goes out and takes the match to his opponent and plays his own game, there's every possibility Andy can get through to the final From Andy's point of view, he's got to treat it as just another match. He knows his game plan, so it's all about imposing it - it doesn't matter if the game's in the first round or the semi-final, he knows what his strategy is, he must just play to it. It's all good for Andy. He's the only player in the tournament not to have dropped a set, while Cilic has been on court more than anyone else. Andy will be fresh and hopefully Cilic will be a bit tired, so he can get out there and start working him over. Andy's had enough tests so far in the tournament, but I'm sure his tank of energy is going to be full as he's in such good shape. Tim Henman was talking to BBC Sport's Julian Shea Andy Murray's semi-final against Marin Cilic will be live on BBC Two, BBC HD, BBC Sport website and Radio 5 Live from 0830 GMT on Thursday
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