By Hugh MacDonald at Wimbledon

HE has a cunning plan ... "I'm just going to pretend when they shout 'C'mon Andy, that they mean me."

The idea belongs to Andy Roddick, who plays tomorrow against his namesake Andy Murray for a place in the men's singles final.

The big American may be kidding, but he knows he will have to come up with a strategy to beat the Scot who has won six of their eight matches.

Roddick, too, faces another big problem, apart from the 6ft 3in Murray.

The American slugged it out for four hours in the Wimbledon heatwave to defeat Lleyton Hewitt in a sapping struggle. Murray raced to victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero in little more than an hour-and-a-half.

It is not difficult to predict who will be the fresher man on Centre Court.

Supporters for the American will also be rare. "I might be able to count the people for me on one hand," said Roddick.

There was no backing from his defeated opponent. Hewitt, who won the Wimbledon title in 2002, said after the five-set marathon last night: "It is going to be a tough one for Roddick to win.

"When I've seen Andy Murray at his best, he matches up very well with Roddick. Roddick's gonna have to play a helluva match to beat him."

The American, at 26, had a titanic struggle against Hewitt. And the Australian said: "He's gonna have to recover quickly. Murray did not have too tough a time out there yesterday, so he's going to be feeling very fresh."

The Scot agrees with that verdict. He is feeling champion after achieving 10-in-a-row. He won his fifth match at Wimbledon 2009 yesterday, adding to the five he took to lift the title at Queen's Club earlier this month. The semi-final slot at SW19 is his best Wimbledon performance.

But Murray wants to make it 12-in-a-row by beating Roddick and then taking the title on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Scot, the youngest competitor left in the men's singles, had a chilling message for his opponent who sweated for four hours in the sun.

"I was only on court for an hour-and-a-half yesterday so it's not going to take anything out of me physically and I should be 100% for my next match."

Murray seemed untouched by his four-hour, five-set tussle with Stanislas Wawrinka on Monday night, beating Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 in a stunning performance.

"I felt fine," said Murray when asked if the had aches and pains from the Wawrinka battle. "I slipped once on the court but, apart from that, I was not stiff at all from the match before. The court was playing very quick so there were not too many long rallies which was nice."

It was almost a summer holiday in the sun for Murray, who received a note of best wishes from Cliff Richard before the match.

"I don't have any of his records, but my mum does," said the player from Dunblane. He could smile at this, but Murray is serious about what is ahead.

"I understand I can lose the next match if I don't play my best. That's one of the things I have learned and it has made a huge difference to me over the year. I realise that if I don't bring my best game I am going to lose to guys like Roddick," he said.

But the achievement of 10-in-a-row on grass has raised his spirits. "I feel confident because I have won a lot of matches on grass," said the world No.3.

He added: "Every day when I play, I know that I'm going to have to perform very well and that gets the nerves and the adrenaline going and makes me play better."

The Centre Court gave Murray its acclaim yesterday.

The crowds are now queuing to cheer him on. As Murray headed home last night to watch television, his fans were already camping out for a match that will not take place until late tomorrow afternoon.

"The atmosphere is going to be electric," said Roddick. "And one that I will certainly appreciate."

It remains to be seen, though, if his cunning plan works.