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Rafael Nadal Drops Two Sets Before US Open Rainout

By Anton Lagani, Lawn Tennis Correspondent, Posted: Saturday, September 6, 2008 9:10pm CST USA
Rafael Nadal Drops Two Sets Before US Open Rainout, US Open 2008 NEW YORK--(lawntennismag.com) Saturday at the US Open in men's semifinal play, world number one Rafael Nadal trailed Andy Murray 6-2, 7-6(7-5), 2-3 before the rains of Tropical Storm Hanna suspended play until Sunday.

The day began with four time defending champion and second seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland overpowering third seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Rafael Nadal | Photo by Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images
Lawn Tennis Magazine, The US Open
Rain suspended the semifinal match until 3:30pm CST USA Sunday.

Midway through the match, the decision was made to move the second men's semifinal to the Armstrong Court due to the approaching rain. Play had already began an hour early on the Ashe court.

And so as Federer won his 34th match in a row at the US Open to advance to Monday's rescheduled final, Nadal of Spain took on Murray of Britain under cloudy skies. Murray took set one 6-2 behind aggressive groundstrokes while Nadal's normal fire and fight appeared missing from full display.

At five all in set two, Nadal hit an overhead winner and an ace out wide to go ahead 6-5. Murray however would reach the tiebreaker with powerful serves after falling behind 15-30. In the tiebreaker, Nadal led 5-4 after trading power groundstrokes with Murray. But three groundstroke errors in a row would end the set for Nadal.

In set three, Murray hit a forehand long after facing his first breakpoint of the match. Nadal held on to the break for 3-2 before rain suspended the match until 3:30pm CST USA Sunday.

The women's and men's finals were have also been rescheduled for 8:00pm CST USA Sunday and 4:00pm CST USA Monday respectively.


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