Murray on tenterhooks as Hanna postpones first Grand Slam final berth

When the heavens burst, the scoreboard read in Murray's favour: 6-2, 7-6, 2-3. While the population of the boroughs of the Big Apple had braced themselves all day for the appearance of Hanna, the 21-year-old Briton offered himself to Nadal in the guise of Hurricane Andy. Quite simply, the world's best tennis player was entrapped in the vortex of Murray's game that blew across Flushing Meadows with an awesome ferocity.

Power play: Andy Murray's serve proved a key weapon.

Throughout this summer, Nadal has raged across the frontiers of tennis as an unchecked force of nature. On the clay of Roland Garros, on the grass of Wimbledon and on the hardcourts at the Beijing Olympics, the 22-year-old Spaniard has proved to be unstoppable. But for two hours and one minute of a New York afternoon, Nadal was almost powerless to resist Murray, who was threatening to accomplish the greatest triumph in modern British tennis history before the Spaniard was allowed to escape to the shelter of his hotel room in Manhattan.

Nadal, surely, cannot be as exposed to the wiles of Murray's game when the men return to complete unfinished business here in late afternoon today. But what Murray achieved on this afternoon was to announce, to the dramatic accompaniment of thunder and lightning, that his ranking as world No 4 is a mantle fully deserved.

Last night he was entitled to dream of ending a 72-year drought believing that he can become the first British player to win a grand slam title since Fred Perry triumphed at Wimbledon in 1936. But his task, with £1.2 million in prize money on the line for becoming US Open champion, has been deemed more difficult due to the botched scheduling by US Open officials yesterday. While Murray and Nadal have to play today, Roger Federer will have his feet up, having worked his ticket to his fifth successive US Open final by dispatching Novak Djokovic in four sets yesterday.

Federer began his match with Djokovic at 11am, on the main showcourt, the Arthur Ashe Stadium, while tournament officials waited fully 90 minutes before taking the decision to stage Murray's semi-final against Nadal in the adjacent Louis Armstrong Stadium. This muddled thinking - primarily to appease television host broadcasters CBS, who wanted the two semi-finals on the same court - occurred even though most meteorological experts forecast that Hanna would arrive at 3pm. In the event, they were out by 10 minutes.

That lost time deprived Murray of the opportunity to nail Nadal at the first attempt. Be assured, there was only one man grateful for the appearance of the storm; and it wasn't Murray. In the confusion of the scheduling, the players walked on court to be greeted by the number of people you would expect at a medium sized wedding. However, once word spread across the grounds thousands flooded the empty seats to turn a private party into a public event.

Murray provided the principal entertainment. He was quite brilliant. He barely permitted Nadal the chance to breathe, let alone strike a rhythm. The Spaniard could not have recognised his opponent from the man he dismissed in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon this summer. In their past four matches, Nadal had not surrendered a set to Murray. But the 21-year-old Briton has always regarded these courts as representing his most realistic location to secure a maiden Grand Slam triumph. He was not deluding us. Four years ago, Murray won the US Open Junior championship on a court across the concourse from where he had Nadal impaled by the brilliance, and range, of his game yesterday.

Nadal's service was under permanent siege. His groundstrokes were defused, then returned with interest by Murray, who detonated 17 aces past the Spaniard. Nadal, surely, has not spent an afternoon in such discomfort. While news reached us that Federer had beaten Djokovic 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, Nadal was clinging to his place in this tournament.

The first set fell to Murray in 34 minutes and the Scot would have been infuriated if he had dropped the second set. He held a total of seven break points on Nadal's service without converting one of them. The tie break came into view with a noose attached for the Briton. However, his nerve held.

And when Nadal struck a backhand wide, giving the tie break to Murray 7-5, the Scotsman danced across the baseline throwing imaginary punches in the air.

Two sets down and Nadal was a portrait of despair. But the Spaniard is a man with limitless resources. Swiftly, he found a toehold by capturing Murray's first service game at the beginning of the third set.

Shortly afterwards, Tropical Storm Hanna blew in and Hurricane Andy was becalmed in an instant. It was harsh, and it was unfair; but Murray will return here today determined to reproduce the thunderous tennis that could be his passport to the match of a lifetime tomorrow.