NEW YORK — It’s hard to imagine that a final four that consists of the Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 6 seeds would be considered a surprise, but that’s the state of the men’s semifinals at the 2012 U.S. Open. It was the first time in 33 Grand Slam events in which neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal reached the semifinal round, although the cast of remaining characters was hardly an obscure one.
After a rain delay of more than an hour, Olympic gold medalist Andy Murray of Britain, the No. 3 seed, and sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic endured windy conditions that blew service tosses, hats, debris and even furniture haphazardly around the court Saturday.
Murray handled the tricky conditions better to pull out a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7) victory. Murray, a finalist at Wimbledon this year, will play in the second U.S. Open final of his career, seeking his first major championship.
With more rain in the forecast, which caused the women’s final to be postponed until today, the second semifinal between defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the No. 2 seed, against No. 4 David Ferrer of Spain was suspended with Ferrer leading 5-2 in the first set. They will resume play this morning.
— New York Times
