Andy Murray will go into his Australian Open semifinal with a former member of his team coaching his opponent, Tomas Berdych. The Scot's childhood friend and longtime assistant coach, Dani Vallverdu, began working with Berdych at the end of 2014.
Murray noted that he has dealt with this sort of issue before. "When I finished working with Miles MacLagan he started working with [Marcos] Baghdatis," he said. "I played against Baghdatis a few times. I played him at the Olympics. I played him in Tokyo with Miles there. Yeah, with Miles there I didn't really have an issue with it. But, again, I don't know, maybe I'll find it weird on the day. But, yeah, it's just something that you deal with as a player. My goal isn't to beat Dani, my goal is to beat Berdych."
However, Vallverdu was a more established member of Murray's circle, having known the 27-year-old since his junior days. Asked if Berdych would have an advantage because of inside information on Murray's game, the world No. 6 had a sharp reply. "But, you know, I also know what Dani thinks of Berdych's game because he's told me, so it works both ways."
Murray acknowledged he did not know how he would react to seeing his former assistant coach sitting in his opponent's box. The two are said to have disagreed on Amelie Mauresmo's introduction as Murray's coach, as well as the approach Murray should take with his game.
Berdych, who defeated Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open quarterfinals, has said Vallverdu has provided him with good strategic guidance and that his insight into Murray "definitely might be an advantage for us." Murray, speaking with the BBC, said he expected Vallverdu to come up with a "great game plan," since "he's known my game as well as anyone." But he would not describe his prior contributions.
"I don't really want to talk about what Dani's strengths and weaknesses are. I'm happy to talk about Berdych and what his strengths and weaknesses are, but I don't want to discuss what Dani does well and doesn't do well," he said.
Berdych leads 6-4 in their head-to-head.