Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Andy Murray is once again in position
to capture his first career Grand Slam title after rallying from a set down to
beat Tomas Berdych in the U.S. Open semifinals.
Murray, though, won't know his opponent in the final until Sunday, as the
second semifinal between reigning champion Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer was
suspended because of weather in the New York area.
Ferrer had opened a 5-2 lead in the first set when play was stopped. The match
will resume on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. ET., and the final will take place on
Monday. It will be the fifth straight Monday finish for the men at Flushing
Meadows.
Rain delayed the start of play Saturday for more than an hour, and with more
inclement weather in the forecast, officials quickly decided to postpone the
women's final -- scheduled for Saturday night -- until Sunday.
Murray beat the weather and Berdych, claiming a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (9-7)
victory on Saturday to earn a place in a Grand Slam final for the fifth time
in his career. He has yet to win one, however.
The Scotsman reached the 2008 U.S. Open title match and lost to Roger Federer,
then fell to the Swiss superstar in the 2009 Australian Open final before also
dropping the 2010 Aussie Open finale to Djokovic. Federer beat him again for
the Wimbledon crown back in July, but Murray finally won a big title just a
few weeks later when he denied the 17-time Grand Slam champion of a gold
medal at the London Olympics.
Now, another chance for Grand Slam glory.
Winds were strong at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday and Murray appeared to
struggle early.
"It was brutal to play in that wind," Murray said after the match. "The ball
was sometimes stopping, moving the other way, and it was hard to serve, so the
focus wasn't really on going for aces, just getting the first serve in. Those
are probably the hardest conditions I've ever had to play in."
Despite picking up the first break of the match for a 2-1 lead, Murray gave it
right back in the next game. The set remained on serve until the 12th game,
when Berdych won three of the first four points. He squandered the first set
point with a forehand into the net, but blasted a forehand winner on the next.
Berdych captured the opening set despite 19 unforced errors, two fewer than he
had in his four-set upset win over Federer in the quarterfinals.
Murray then made adjustments and had little trouble over the next two sets. He
broke serve twice in the second and three times in the third while never
facing a break point.
Each player broke once in a tight fourth set and Berdych was on the verge of
forcing a fifth after racing out to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak. Murray battled
back and squared it at 5-5.
A Berdych forehand error set up a match point at 7-6 for Murray, but the Czech
quickly followed with an ace. Berdych then drilled a pair of forehands long on
the ensuing two points to give Murray the match.
Berdych finished the match with a whopping 64 unforced errors, compared to
just 20 for Murray.
It marked the best U.S. Open finish for Berdych, who previously had been only
as far as the fourth round three times.
The Sports Network