Andy Murray broke the resilience of the No 1 player in the world last night to reach the US Open final and herald a wondrous new dawn for himself and British tennis. Four years after becoming the boys’ champion and dreaming of bigger and better things, the 21-year-old from Dunblane, Scotland, faces Roger Federer on the day that could end Britain’s 72-year wait for a men’s grand-slam champion.

Rafael Nadal had been aiming to add the US Open title to those of the French and Wimbledon and the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, to his extraordinary feats this year, but Murray would hear nothing of it. Despite the semi-final having been suspended overnight when the city was deluged with rain, Murray was bravery personified. He won in three hours and 30 minutes and now has to dust himself down and return at 5pm this evening (10pm British time) for the test against a fully rested Federer.

“I’m very relieved,” Murray said. “It was tough to sleep on the fact that we had to come back today and I’m so glad I came through in the end. It will be tough to come back again tomorrow against probably the best player of all time, but the crowd here are unbelievable and they will lift me. They only saw 1½ sets of tennis today, but they were brilliant even if they probably wanted to see a fifth.”

Murray can only be emboldened by a 2-1 head-to-head record in his favour against the Swiss, who is seeking to become the first player since Bill Tilden in 1925 to win this title five years in succession. Both of those victories were on hard courts, but they have never met in a grand-slam tournament. Federer knows the Arthur Ashe Stadium like the back of his hand; Murray is beginning to dote on the place.

This was Murray at his most magnetic. He had never beaten Nadal in their first five meetings although he knew - the Wimbledon quarter-final drubbing aside - that he was getting close. The circumstances of his victory can only stand him in excellent stead for his meeting with Federer, although his opponent has had more than 24 hours’ additional rest.

Not only did the match resume on a different court - it had begun on Saturday in the Louis Armstrong Stadium in front of an audience no bigger than a Scottish third division football attendance - but the weather had taken a turn for the better as the forbidding skies had been replaced by azure blue.

There is a story that Nadal, when he was a youngster, once lost a match and could not be consoled. “What can I do if I am losing?” he asked Toni, his uncle and coach. The answer from Toni was that he would gesture up to the skies and ask the Gods to bring some rain. There was much gesturing in the Spanish box on Saturday when Murray opened up his initial lead.

The Scot had snaffled the first two sets in brilliant fashion and Nadal’s countenance darkened, in distinct harmony with the conditions.

Attempting to become the first British player since Greg Rusedski 11 years earlier to reach the men’s final here, Murray had been the epitome of quiet determination throughout the event.

There had been moments of strife, when he was within two points of defeat by Jürgen Melzer, of Austria, in the third round and then tossed in a 138mph serve; there were times when his tennis was real majesty, as in his straight-sets humbling of Stanislas Wawrinka, of Switzerland, the No 10 seed. And then came the most rigorous of physical tests, when he outlasted and brought to his knees Juan MartÍn Del Potro, of Argentina, who had won his previous 23 matches. We have been blessed with every element of Murray’s extraordinary repertoire.