Nadal versus Murray - set by set update

Third Set
Nadal showed he was not giving up on his quest for a third grand slam of the year when he took the first game of the third set by breaking Murray's serve.

With Nadal 3-2 up and about to begin serving for a 4-2 lead, chair umpire Steve Ullrich climbed down from his perch as light rain began to fall and inspected the hardcourt surface, sending the players back to their seats after two hours and one minute of play.

Tournament referee Brian Earley also came out.

Murray was understandably keen to continue and walked back onto the court to share his views with Earley, claiming that the court was not slippy.
The officials were proved correct, however, as the rain began to come down harder and both players were finally sent back to the locker rooms.

Second Set

The dream start continued for Murray as he earned two break points in the third game of the second set but he failed to take the
opportunities presented. A return into the net from a Nadal second serve saved the first for the top seed and he pulled another big serve out to the Murray backhand to send the game to deuce.

Murray quickly worked another break point but sent a forehand just wide and Nadal went on to hold serve.

Murray put in a big service game and then continued his attack of the left-handed Nadal's serve, forcing the Spaniard to save two break points in the fifth game as the match reached the hour mark still free of any rain despite the rising humidity and grey skies.

This was a much tighter affair than the opening set as both men tried to prise an opening to give them the upper hand. Yet while Murray had had five break points, Nadal was yet to force one when the Scot had the ball in hand.

Murray's first service was at the best it had been all tournament, the end of the eighth game seeing him reach a 73% first service for the second set, 63% for the match.

As if to underline the point, he won his next service game to love with an ace down the middle to level the set at 5-5 on serve.

With confidence brimming, Murray's return was also firing on all cylinders, the Scot executing a forehand winner off Nadal's serve on the way to securing his sixth break point of the set. Nadal, though, stuck to his task to save but could not deal with a booming forehand that he sent long.

Facing another break point, the world number one dug deep once again, sending Murray from corner to corner before wrong-footing his rival and burying a forehand winner on the way to another crucial hold of serve.
The set went into a tie-break, Nadal serving first and sending a forehand wide to earn Murray a mini-break he failed to capitalise on, an 81mph second serve given short shrift by the Spaniard.

Murray grabbed the upper hand again with a superb forehand winner down the line as he reached to a Nadal drop shot but then served his first double fault of the match to bring the tie-break to 3-3.

Murray caught a break when Nadal saw a return of his second serve bounce off the top of the net and fall the wrong side and he gained set point at 6-5 with Nadal serving and sending a backhand wide.

Murray clenched his fists in delight at the 7-6 (7-5) set victory which gave him a firm grip on the match at 2-0 up.

First Set

British number one Andy Murray stole a march on US Open top seed Rafael Nadal by taking the first set of their semi-final 6-2 today.

Murray, making his first appearance in a grand slam semi-final, had lost all five of his previous meetings with Nadal, and had not won a set against the Spaniard since their first encounter at the 2007 Australian Open, most recently losing in the Wimbledon quarter-finals and in Toronto.

The match had been scheduled to take place on Arthur Ashe Stadium following the first semi-final of the day between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic but with tropical storm Hanna fast approaching the New York area, Murray and Nadal were switched to the second show court on Louis Armstrong Stadium as play began while Federer and Djokovic were still playing next door.

The 21-year-old Scot had pointed out the need to improve his return of serve as a key to success against Nadal and he signalled his intent by claiming the first point of the match with a forehand winner before the world number one held service.

Murray, with three hardcourt titles this year in Doha, Marseilles and the ATP Master Series in Cincinnati, won his first service game to love.
He then earned his first break point in the next game after Nadal pushed a backhand to the corner wide. Another strong return on the next point set up a poor Nadal forehand and Murray got his reward by going a break up at 2-1.

Nadal, the reigning French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic champion, had claimed he had not yet been at his best in New York as he continued to recover from his recent success in Beijing.

Regardless, a pumped-up Murray was in confident mood and he claimed a second break in the seventh game when he reached a Nadal drop shot at the net and put away a winner to take a 5-2 lead and serve for the set.
Murray, who is set to move two places up the world rankings to number four at the end of this tournament, quickly took a 30-0 lead but Nadal rallied to level the game, only for the sixth seed to stretch the Spaniard with a rasping forehand down the line that his rival could not return.

Murray wrapped the set up by mixing it up, moving off the baseline to put away a winning volley and score a huge psychological blow in this contest.