So Britain's Andy Murray will be on television screens across America this weekend, after his four-set victory over Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro earned him the prize of a first grand slam semi-final, and a guaranteed slot on the US Open's ˜Super Saturday' broadcast.
Here in the United States, this is tennis primetime for Murray, the most important run of his young life.
This was a day match and a night match. The quarter-final began under beautiful blue skies, but, after four hours of tennis, anyone at the top of the Arthur Ashe Stadium could have looked across and watched the sun setting on the Manhattan skyline.
When he was a break up in the third set, Murray looked as though he was on his way to a straight-sets win. But he eventually made his way through to the last four on the New York cement, eventually beating a South American teenager who had arrived on court on a 23-match wining run. Murray was the one to snap Del Potro’s streak, winning 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5, and so became the first British man to make it to ‘Super Saturday’ since Tim Henman four years ago.
One interested observer in the stands was Rafael Nadal, the world No 1 on a scouting mission. Murray’s victory took him through to play Nadal after the Spaniard beat Mardy Fish, of the United States, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in their quarter-final.
One bookmaker had offered odds of 50-1 on Murray and Del Potro swinging fists as well as rackets at Flushing Meadows. On their previous meeting, in Rome this year, Murray had been angered by Del Potro making a remark about his mother, Judy. Murray responded by telling Del Potro to “shut his mouth”.
But there weren’t any punches thrown on court. If there was any senseless violence it was off Del Potro’s strings. Before going for it on the forehand side, he took a giant, almost theatrical wind-up on his back-swing and then unleashed his racket at speed. On some occasions, it worked spectacularly, but there were other times when those in the front row needed to take cover behind their pop-corn.
A few hours before Murray and Del Potro came on court, the large video screen outside the stadium was showing a trailer for the quarter-final, with pictures of the players. Or what the tournament staff thought were the players. Instead of Del Potro and Murray, it was Del Potro and Murray’s brother, Jamie.
Still, by mid-afternoon, the younger of the Murray brothers was out in the world’s largest tennis stadium, in front of 20,000-odd spectators. This was Murray’s second appearance on the main show court this week, but his first during a day session.
It took a while for the crowd to get into this encounter. The opening set was an untidy affair. Murray built a 4-2 lead. But it was then that Murray played a soft break to be broken to 15; he hit two double-faults, including one to finish the game.
By now, Del Potro had found his range and his rhythm off the ground, and he broke Murray once more two games later, with the Briton again hitting a double-fault on the last point of the game. So that left Del Potro serving for the opening set at 5-4, but the South American could hardly get a first service in court, and dropped his delivery.
After a couple of points of the tie-break, Murray asked the umpire whether it would be possible to find the off-switch for the giant video screens inside the stadium. But the screens had been on all week, and the official came back with the message that they would have to stay on. Still, despite that hold-up, Murray played the smarter, cuter tennis, dropping just two points in taking the set decider.
Del Potro, all arms and legs on the cement, called the trainer on court before the second set for an examination of his left leg, and he later had some strapping applied. Murray broke for 6-5, which left him serving for a two-set lead. And yet he promptly played a terrible game, losing his delivery to love after striking four unforced errors.
Again, Del Potro was very much second best in the tiebreak. No wonder he resorted to flinging his racket on the concrete. The teenager won just one point during the climax.
Before the third set, Murray walked around behind the baseline juggling tennis balls on his feet, but his support group in the stadium couldn’t relax. Murray was 3-1 up with a break and later had two break-points for a 5-3 lead.
But it was Del Potro who came through to take the set. In the fourth set, Del Potro was twice a break up, only for Murray to twice find parity. And Murray broke for the set, the match and a place in the semi-finals, when Del Potro put a backhand wide.
Now, ‘Super Saturday’ is beckoning the young Scot to take the biggest advance of his increasingly exciting career.
