Saturday, 10 September 2011

Murray Hopes to End Nadal Run


Britain's Andy Murray is confident he can end his losing run against Rafael Nadal and beat the defending champion to reach the US Open final.

The Scot, 24, takes on Nadal in the second semi-final not before 1945 BST on Saturday, after Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer meet at 1700 BST.

A rescheduled 'Super Saturday' will also see the women's semis take place.

Following heavy rain earlier in the week, the women's final has been moved to Sunday and the men's to Monday.

The late change to the schedule has not gone down well with all the players, and the fact that the secondary Louis Armstrong Stadium is out of action due to a water leak means that Stosur and Kerber have been relegated to the third Grandstand stadium.

They will begin at 2300 BST, with world number one Caroline Wozniacki taking on tournament favourite and three-time champion Serena Williams at 0000 BST on the main Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Apparently unhappy, Australian ninth seed Stosur posted on Facebook: "I think my Semi Final is at 6pm on Grandstand, if anyone wants to watch the ONLY SEMI FINAL not on Arthur Ashe Stadium, come out tomorrow."

There are no such issues for the men who, following the complaints of several leading players, have seen their final moved to Monday, allowing the semi-final winners an unexpected rest on Sunday.

"I almost would have preferred it if they just left it just as it was on the Sunday, because now the guys on the other half are playing like a normal Slam," said Murray. "They're playing one day on, one day off, you know, from the quarter-finals onwards.

Murray and Nadal have met 16 times with the Spaniard winning 12 of those matches, but on hard courts his lead is only 5-4.

"If they kept it as it was, they would have had to play three days in a row and we would have had to play four days in a row."

Murray goes into his match against Nadal trailing 12-4 in career meetings, and having lost the last four including semi-final defeats at Wimbledon and the French Open this year.

But by defeating John Isner on Friday, the Briton became only seventh man to get to the semis of all the Grand Slams in the same year, and he takes confidence from having beaten Nadal in the US Open semi-finals three years ago.

"I've beaten him before in the semis," said Murray. "I won against him also at the Australian Open. And when I've won against him, it's always been on hard courts.

"It's a good surface for me to play him on. Obviously at the French I would go into that match not being a favourite; then Wimbledon I've got a chance, but his record has been great there. I think on the American hard courts it's a close, close match-up."

Djokovic and Federer meet for the fifth year in a row at the US Open, with the Swiss having won the 2007 final and two subsequent semis before Djokovic edged a dramatic semi-final last year.

Federer since became the first man to beat Djokovic this year in the French Open semi-finals in June.

"It's pretty straightforward, said Federer. "I think we're both going to play aggressive. He's moving well. He's probably taken his game up to a higher level, but mostly in terms of confidence.

"He's been having an amazing season, so it's a challenge right now in the men's game. That's what I like, who I like to play against."


SUPER SATURDAY LINE-UP
Novak Djokovic v Roger Federer from 1700 BST
Rafael Nadal v Andy Murray from not before 1945 BST
Sam Stosur v Angelique Kerber from 2300 BST
Serena Williams v Caroline Wozniacki from 0000 BST