Berdych – Murray

In form Tomas Berdych will take on Brit hero Andy Murray in the Wimbledon semifinals, with both players having experienced victory at this stage of SW19 before.

Berdych was on fire over the last 10 days or so, playing really solid tennis to defeat the likes of Dodig, Becker, A.Zverev, Vesely and Pouille. His only problems were in the Round 16 match against Vesely, a 5 setter which was played over 2 days, but Tomas was always in control and had match points to finish it in 4, before dominating the 5th set. He followed that victory with a straight sets win over the surprise package of Pouille.

Murray had a real scare in his quarterfinal against Tsonga, blowing a 2-0 advantage before recovering to dominate the 5th set for a 7-6 6-1 3-6 4-6 6-1 win. Those were the first two sets Murray lost at Wimbledon this year, after beating Broady, Lu, Millman and Kyrgios in straight. Andy is in blistering form this season on grass, he`s showing some real good tennis and won the Queens title before Wimbledon.

Bet on Berdych v Murray and claim your 200% (100 Eur) exclusive bonus at Ohmbet!

Murray leads the Head 2 Head 8-6, but this will be the first meeting on grass between the two. Both love this surface, so neither holds an advantage in this regard. In terms of style, Berdych seems to know how to play against Andy. Taking 6 out of 14 meetings against a brilliant player like Murray is no easy feat, so Tomas does have the ability to hurt Andy if he is in top form – as he is right now. The only Head 2 Head meeting this year was on clay at Madrid, with Murray winning easily in two sets.

There`s a legitimate argument to be made that Berdych didn`t really meet top opponents so far, even if he did play against some guys which were in the form of their lives. Nevertheless, Berdych’s serve is working well, his flat groundstrokes go deep, he is not getting bullied in rallies and that is always a great sign for him. Berdych’s serve and problems should cause Murray some problems here, as it happened in the past.

I can see Berdych starting strong, he knows this is one of his last chances to return in a Grand Slam final and he will be ready to go from the first exchange. Berdych was always very, very strong at the start in past meetings with Murray at Grand Slams, winning the opening set in all three meetings. I can fully see the same scenario here, with Tomas being very strong in the first set or two and taking one of them.

Murray is obviously the better player, he`s in top form, but he does have his weaknesses and Tsonga exposed some of them in the quarters. I do expect Andy to win, but he rarely had it easy against Berdych and will most likely have to work hard again today. The scenario I predict is two very close sets at the beginning, before Murray finally wears Berdych down and runs away with the last two sets for a 3-1 win.

I was thinking about taking a bet on the first set here, something like Berdych to win it or a tiebreak to occur, maybe even a first set handicap on Tomas. However, I decided to go with the more traditional and safer approach of over 3,5 sets to be played, so that will be my tip. Prediction: Tomas Berdych – Andy Murray 7-6 6-7 4-6 2-6.

Pick: over 3,5 sets
Odds: 2.00 @ Bet365
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 7
Event date: 8 July