Britain’s Andy Murray

Britain’s Andy Murray continued his quest for a maiden Grand Slam title with victory over powerful Czech Tomas Berdych to make the US Open final.

The Scot came from behind in blustery conditions to win a rain-delayed match 5-7 6-2 6-1 7-6 (9-7) in three hours 58 minutes.

Murray, 25, is through to his fifth major final and second in New York. He will take on defending champion Novak Djokovic or Spain’s David Ferrer, whose second semi-final meeting had to be postponed till Sunday following adverse weather conditions with Ferrer leading.

Murray joins Fred Perry as the only British men to reach multiple US Open finals and is guaranteed to replace Rafael Nadal as world number three when the latest rankings are published on Monday. His coach Ivan Lendl is the only other player in the Open era to lose their first four Grand Slam finals, but Lendl triumphed in his fifth.

When asked if he would do the same, Murray said: “I hope so. You can never say for sure and I know how tough these events are to win.

“Novak and David are very tough opponents. Anything can happen in these conditions but I’ll give it everything I have.”

Murray overcame Berdych with a display epitomising the maturity and consistency that have been increasingly evident since he hired Lendl.

He is a far more accomplished player than the one who lost to Roger Federer in the 2008 showpiece, and illustrated that against the man who stunned Federer in this year’s quarter-finals.

The result was particularly impressive given Murray had to rally from dropping set one with the wind proving troublesome throughout.

“It was brutal,” explained the British number one. “The ball was moving, stopping, there were chairs flying. They were some of the hardest conditions I’ve ever played in and I come from Scotland, so that’s saying something.”
Torrential downpours saw play put back by 90 minutes, and when it did begin both men looked far from comfortable.