Andy Murray battles windy conditions to beat Tomas Berdych
8th September 2012A bizarre, windblown day at the US Open has handed Andy Murray his best chance yet of landing that elusive Grand Slam title. After scrapping his way to a four-set win over Tomas Berdych, in what he called the toughest conditions he has ever played in, Murray will be able to rest and recuperate on Sunday while the other semi-final is completed.
Yet again, heavy rain in New York has played havoc with the tournament’s schedule, which will now spill over into a third Monday for the fifth year in succession. The women’s final between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka has been postponed until around 4.45pm on Sunday, while Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer will resume their match at 11am local time, weather permitting.
Anyone who saw the torrential rain lashing Flushing Meadows on Saturday morning might have predicted a total washout. But the clouds cleared as quickly as they had massed, leaving gale-force winds behind for the players to battle with.
At one point, Murray was halfway through his service action when one of the chairs the players sit on at the changeovers flew into the air and landed on the court. Even his girlfriend Kim Sears, she of the most requested hairstyle in London salons, had to tie her famous locks into a bun.
Murray had to draw on all his supreme courtcraft to close out a nerve-wracking win in a fraction under four hours, eventually coming through 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6. And then it was the turn of Djokovic, the defending champion and tournament favourite, who looked every bit as cheesed off as Berdych had before him.
Djokovic could be heard telling chair umpire Carlos Bernardes that the conditions were unplayable, only for Bernardes to reply that they had been even worse during the first final. The Serb’s disconsolate mood may have contributed to an extremely slow start, and Ferrer had taken a 5-2 first-set lead by the time the match was suspended – not because of more rain, but because a tornado was approaching Queen’s and the stadium needed to be evacuated.