Graphic: semi-final stats

On the day after a tropical storm called Hanna blew through New York, one that goes by the first name of Andy caused such havoc at Flushing Meadows that the world No 1 was blown aside in its destructive wake. Andy Murray is into the men’s final of the US Open and later today, Roger Federer, seeking his fifth successive title here, may have to batten down the hatches.

Murray’s stunning recovery in the fourth set, in which he trailed Rafael Nadal 3-1 having squandered seven break points in the previous game, secured him a place in his first grand-slam tournament final and underlined what those who have followed him since junior days have long acknowledged - that he has a game that could live with the best once he had fully developed physically. Now watch the 21-year-old grow.

One shot Murray played yesterday, a backhand half-volley flicked pass into the open court after Nadal had chased down a drop shot and struck a vicious backhand for what appeared a certain winner, will go down in the annals of audacity. It was vintage Murray and the 6-2, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 scoreline more than does justice to the courage of the Scot. When the match was interrupted by Saturday’s rain, with Nadal edging back into the frame, one wondered who the break might favour.

Nadal - who had won his previous five matches against Murray - played his best game of the whole match upon the resumption at 4.40pm yesterday. He missed only one first serve and when he raked a clinical forehand into Murray’s backhand corner on the last point, it was difficult to recall the Spaniard playing a better shot in the entire match. Murray’s response was not too shabby, either, holding his service to love, completing that with a deft forehand volley to stay in touch.

It may have been the same two players, but it had the feel of a new match altogether. Murray sent down a couple of aces in his second service game, enough to rattle Nadal and raise the temperature. Murray knew that he had to break there to avoid a fourth set and when he edged a ground-stroke exchange to 30-all, the crowd sensed the moment and the decibel level rose.

Nadal let out a ferocious cry of “Vamos” when he fizzed one of his finest forehands into the corner to bring up a set point but Murray’s response was excellent, a forehand that landed just inside the baseline and that the Spaniard could not control. Then it was the Scot’s turn to yell as his approach enticed an overhit from Nadal. The break point was saved, as is the wont of a No 1, with an juicy ace down the middle. It was to be as close as Murray would come in this set, for Nadal’s forehand was beginning to look ominously in the groove, a crisp delivery to the backhand corner securing the third set.

Break points had drifted by Murray in the second set - one that he eventually grabbed in a tie-break - and the same was true of the second game of the fourth. How many chances did Murray want to secure a significant foothold? Seven of them passed him by, either by resilience from Nadal or Murray returns that missed their mark. When Nadal held, after a torrid 15-minute game, he had saved 15 or the 17 break points against him thus far, there was new life in his legs and he promptly broke Murray to love but that only set the stage for Murray’s epic fightback to take the set and the match.

The scheduling, which played its part in taking the semi-final into a second day, remained a vexed topic yesterday. When the programmes for the two weekends of the US Open are decided, the tournament officials have to get the nod of Bob Mansbach, the CBS executive producer first. If he does not like what he sees, they rip the paper up and start again. Hence the furore generated when Nadal and Murray’s match was switched to Louis Armstrong, the stadium that was superseded as the No 1 venue by the construction of the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The debacle that followed - as Federer skipped ominously into the final on Arthur Ashe and Murray and Nadal were forced to start 90 minutes later, because three forecasters could not make up their minds when Tropical Storm Hanna would be unleashed on the borough of Queens, and found their semi-final interrupted when beautifully poised on Louis Armstrong - could easily have been avoided.

Nadal’s camp took the unusual step of issuing a statement insisting that their player was happy to play wherever and whenever the schedulers put him. One understands, though, that Nadal was not convinced that Federer against Novak Djokovic should have been given the first slot on the main show court. The decision was made because the TV bosses were not sure enough Americans knew enough about who Murray was to want to be switching on at 11am. They knew a lot more about him by the end of the match. He left America wanting more.