Ivan Lendl priming Andy Murray for the time of his life

Britain expects. And why not, after the form Andy Murray has produced on his way to the last four? According to Tim Henman, Wednesday's win over David Ferrer was "the best performance of Andy's Wimbledon career".

The nation may already be hanging out the bunting for Sunday's final, but there is one more hurdle to jump first - a 6ft 2in, 14st hurdle named Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The two men play the late match this afternoon, and it has the makings of another ripper.

If Murray is going to defuse the most explosive player on the tour, he needs to maintain the intensity he produced in his quarter-final, and this is where he can draw on the experience of his coach and mentor Ivan Lendl.

Watching Lendl's poker-faced demeanour in the player's box, you might think that his mind was on his golf swing. In fact, he and Murray have struck up a quasi-paternal relationship, meeting the evening before each match to run through their tactical approach for the next day. Describing the habit yesterday, Murray made Lendl's briefings sound almost like bedtime stories.

"Ivan is very exact," Murray said. "He doesn't miss anything. He gives you a lot of information on players, and we have started to have our tactical talk the night before matches so I can sleep on it. That's really been the big difference and it's helped me be more prepared."

When Lendl's appointment was confirmed, many wondered if two such spiky characters could possibly gel. And whether Lendl would be able to add much value when he had barely seen a tennis match since his retirement in 1994.

But those doubts have been routed over the past 10 days, just like many of Murray's opponents. We are now watching Murray version 2.0 - a man who has kept his temper under control, who has delivered pounding inside-out forehands straight from his mentor's handbook, and who has hammered down aces on match point. He has always had ability, but Lendl has given him belief.

Murray is normally vague about his preparation, but he did reveal one recent change. "I hit a lot less serves than I used to," he said. "Ivan thinks you need to rest your shoulder and make sure it is loose, not tired, because over the course of two weeks you hit thousands of serves. That may be a reason why I am serving well deeper into the tournament."

And why he has already notched up a tally of 65 aces. If he can sneak past Tsonga, this much-improved serve will be his key weapon in the final.

The trouble with this match is that the pressure is all on Murray once again. Were he to lose another semi-final to Rafael Nadal, his customary Wimbledon nemesis, it would produce little more than a weary sigh, and a sense that, to paraphrase Gary Lineker: "Tennis is a game where two men chase a yellow ball and then the Spaniard wins".

But if Murray goes down to Tsonga today, he can expect to be castigated everywhere from the BBC's phone-in show 6-Love-6 to the tennis clubs of middle England. Never mind that Tsonga is a phenomenal talent who blitzed Roger Federer in last year's quarter-final.

This whole situation has echoes of the tabloid front page that greeted Henman in 2002, when both Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi went out of Wimbledon early - "No pressure Timbo, but choke now and we'll never forgive you."

Such burdens are not an exclusively British phenomenon. But this country seems to do thwarted expectation better than anywhere else. There have been no fewer than 11 semi-finals involving British men since 1938, and nary a single win.

In the circumstances, Murray's outstanding record at Wimbledon looks all the more admirable. And particularly his ability to lock himself away from all the chatter and white noise.

Murray was asked yesterday whether he ever looks at the statue of Fred Perry, the last home-grown Wimbledon champion, that stands poised by Gate Four as if still waiting for his next volley. "If I did it might not be beneficial, especially at this stage of the tournament," he said.

"When I think about Wimbledon and how long it has been since a -British winner it is obviously surprising, a bit shocking too. But I am very selfish when I think about Wimbledon. I really try to make sure that I want to do it for myself.

"When I sit out there on the court, I am thinking about the history and the matches that I have played there. I do that so I understand how important it is and because when I come here I don't want to waste the chance by playing a stupid match, not acting right or not preparing properly."

There is no guarantee that Murray will beat Tsonga, for the Frenchman is unplayable on his day. But with Lendl in his corner, he will as be ready as is humanly possible.