The towering 26-year-old from the Czech Republic, who recorded a sensational four-set victory over world No.1 Roger Federer here in the early hours of Thursday, is in bullish mood ahead of their semi-final at Flushing Meadows on Saturday, and has the statistics to back it up. He boasts a rare 4-2 winning record against the Scot from their six previous meetings to date, matches which include an impressive 2010 Roland Garros quarter-final win and a victory against the new-look Team Murray line-up in Monte Carlo earlier in the year.
The Scot is bolstered by his recent run to the Wimbledon final and Olympic gold, but Berdych can cause havoc with his powerful, flat ground strokes and is convinced he will trouble him if he performs to the same level as he reached against Federer.
"It is probably no secret that I can bring something up, that I will do something differently for my next match," said the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up. "I have a few days off to get ready, to get rest, to prepare again, and try to keep my game on the same level.
"He won the gold medal and has been in the final of Wimbledon, so probably that helps him a lot. But, similar to matches with Roger, even if he's playing well and then I come up with my game, which probably he doesn't like too much, I bring something different and that could be my chance. We'll see after the match if he is going to be something different or not."
Berdych appears unfazed by the fact that countryman Ivan Lendl will be in the opposite corner in his role as Murray's coach. "I have already had that experience from Monte Carlo, and since then we haven't played each other," Berdych said. "So, so far when Ivan is with Andy I think the score is one-all. It would be nice to maybe get to the lead."
Murray, however, has a happy recent knack of coming up with a winning formula against even the toughest of opponents. "He's a huge, huge hitter of the ball," the Scot said. "Even if you want to dictate points and be aggressive, he can take that away from you because he's such a powerful guy. You need to be smart against him. You need to use good variation."
