• Wimbledon, Day 12

Lendl leading the way for Murray

Andy Murray may just have cracked the code for reaching the final of Wimbledon © Getty Images

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Andy Murray has shed light on the subtle, no-frills manner in which Ivan Lendl has improved his chances of winning Wimbledon, revealing "he does not miss anything".

Murray heads into a semi-final showdown against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday, knowing he is one win away from becoming the first British man for 74 years to contest the Wimbledon final.

Lendl has been emotionless throughout the tournament, offering nothing more than the odd tap of the hand whenever Murray has produced moments of brilliance. The world No. 4's serve has fired emphatically, hitting 65 aces, 18 more than Roger Federer and 21 more than Novak Djokovic.

The credit for that belongs to Lendl, according to Murray, who explains that practice is not always the best way to achieve success.

"Ivan is more of the opinion that you need to rest your shoulder and make sure it is loose, not tired, when you go out on to the court and into big tournaments because over the course of two weeks you hit thousands of serves," Murray said.

"I have hit a lot fewer serves since I started working with him. That is maybe a reason why I am serving well deeper into the tournament.

"He has worked a lot on my second serve, too, since the start of the year and that is something that has been good."

Tsonga brings obvious dangers: his power from the baseline is frightening, he boasts a powerful serve, and when he is on top, he is extremely difficult to rein in. Murray again turns to the influence of Lendl, though, who will have the Brit fully clued up on Tsonga's weaknesses heading into Friday's showdown on Centre Court.

"I now talk tactics the night before a match. I'll chat with him 30-40 minutes before a match and get a lot of information, tactics," Murray said. "Someone like Ivan, he's very exact - he does not miss anything.

"He gives you a lot of information on players so I have started to talk the night before matches so I can process it all. That's really been the big difference."

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