Murray, Nadal to finish semifinal match at U.S. Open

Sep 7, 2008 - 1:58 PM FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Tropical Storm Hanna washed away the chance of a huge upset Saturday. Andy Murray hopes the storm simply delayed the inevitable.

The fifth-ranked Scot will take a 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 2-3 lead to the court Sunday when he resumes his semifinal encounter with top seed Rafael Nadal at the U.S. Open.

While second seed Roger Federer did manage to secure his spot in the final of the hardcourt major Saturday, the other semifinal between Murray and Nadal had to be suspended due to heavy rain.

The championship match has been rescheduled for Monday as a result of the backup.

Before Saturday's second match was brought to a halt, Murray was shocking the world No. 1 as the 21-year-old won the first two sets. Nadal did break Murray's serve and just needs to hold serve to win the third game, but still faces an uphill battle.

Searching for his first U.S. Open title, Nadal has been playing at a level few in the sport have ever reached. The 22-year-old Spaniard is attempting to win his ninth title of the year and is bidding to become the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to win at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows in the same year.

Appearing in his first Grand Slam semifinal and guaranteed to become the new world No. 4, Murray has been unable to defeat Nadal in their five previous encounters, including three matches this season.

However, Murray came out firing in this clash against Nadal.

Dropping his previous 11 sets to the 22-year-old Spaniard, Murray claimed two breaks in the opening set to break that streak. Both players managed to remain on serve in the second set, with Nadal fighting off five break chances in between his second and third service games, before Murray took the tiebreaker to take a commanding two-sets-to-none advantage.

Nadal, who claimed the gold medal in Beijing last month, has won 11 straight and 54 of his last 56 matches. The lefthander, who beat Murray in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, also has been triumphant in 19 consecutive Grand Slam matches.

The winner faces four-time defending champion Federer, who is two shy of Pete Sampras' all-time record of 14 Grand Slam titles.

The Swiss superstar, trying to become the first player since Bill Tilden in the 1920s to win the event five straight times, continued his bid for another championship with a 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

This season, Nadal has beaten Federer in the French Open final and ended the 27-year-old's bid for a fifth consecutive Wimbledon title, topping the 55-time champion in a five-set classic.

First prize here is $1.5 million, but Nadal stands to earn $2.5 million with a victory as he won the U.S. Open Series leading up to the event.