Rafael Nadal stands between Andy Murray and his first Grand Slam final after both players won through to Super Saturday at Flushing Meadows.

The Scot beat Juan Martin del Potro 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 in nearly four hours last night to set up a semi-final with the world No1, who saw off Mardy Fish.

Murray said: "I want to try to win it - I don't want to lose in the semis. I understand getting to this stage is a great achievement, but I want to go a little bit further."

If the Scot achieves that dream it will end Britain's long wait for a first men's Slam winner - since Fred Perry won the 1936 US title.

Worryingly for Open organisers, the predicted arrival of Hurricane Hannah on Saturday could disrupt both the semi-finals and women's final.

Nadal stayed on course to add the US title to the French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic gold medal by defeating American Fish 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in a match that didn't finish until 2.10am in New York.

The Murray match was a major reason for the Spanish star being kept up so late - along with Serena Williams' 7-6, 7-6 quarter-final win over sister Venus.

Nadal said: "I am very happy to be in my first US Open semi-final and it will be very difficult against Andy because he is playing really well but I would love to win this tournament.

"Andy has a lot of confidence because he has been doing so well on the hard courts. It doesn't matter that this is Andy's first Slam semi-final because he came into the tournament knowing he could reach this stage and also win the title. It's nothing strange for him. I will have to be 100 per cent again.

"To be honest, I prefer to finish my matches earlier than this!"

Murray said: "When you see all the winners of previous US Opens, you realize that winning is what really counts."