ESPN 2008 US Open

NEW YORK -- It sure took awhile, but Rafael Nadal is a U.S. Open semifinalist.

The No. 1-ranked Nadal beat unseeded American Mardy Fish 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, getting past the quarterfinals for the first time in six trips to Flushing Meadows with a victory that ended with the scoreboard showing 2:10 a.m. Thursday, making it the third-latest finish in tournament history.

"The night atmosphere here is always amazing here but I prefer to finish a little earlier," a beaming Nadal said on-court after the match. "Thanks everyone for being here until 2 o'clock."

Nadal, who has won four titles at the French Open and one at Wimbledon, will now face first-time Grand Slam semifinalist Andy Murray.

Fish took the opening set on the strength of a 23-6 edge in winners, some gutsy serving and one service break. But Nadal never faced a break point the rest of the way.

Serving at 3-2 in the fourth set, however, Nadal was distracted by a male fan who shouted out from the stands while the Spaniard was in full flight of his service motion.

Sportingly, Fish immediately stopped the point and then play was held up for several minutes as a security official went to deal with the offending fan.

First Slam at No. 1

The U.S. Open is Rafael Nadal's first Grand Slam as the world's No. 1 player. How men ranked No. 1 for the first time have fared in their first Grand Slam, since 1988:

Player	Became No. 1	First Slam	Result
Rafael Nadal	Aug. 18, 2008	U.S. Open	?
Roger Federer	Feb. 2, 2004	French Open	Third round
Andy Roddick	Nov. 3, 2003	Australian Open	Quarterfinals
Lleyton Hewitt	Nov. 19, 2001	Australian	First round
Gustavo Kuerten	Dec. 4, 2000	Australian	Second round
Yevgeny Kafelnikov	May 3, 1999	French	Second round
Andre Agassi	April 10, 1995	French	Quarterfinals
Pete Sampras	April 12, 1993	French	Quarterfinals
Jim Courier	Feb. 10, 1992	French	Champion
Stefan Edberg	Aug. 13, 1990	U.S.	First round
Mats Wilander	Sept. 12, 1988	Australian	Second round

Once the umpire had reminded the crowd of the etiquette of staying quiet during points, normal service resumed and a rampaging Nadal won the next three games, sealing victory when Fish sailed a the ball long.

Murray reached his first Grand Slam semifinal by beating No. 17 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 7-6 (2), 7-6 (1), 4-6, 7-5 in a match that lasted nearly four hours and delayed the start of the Williams sisters' quarterfinal match.

Murray, who ended del Potro's 23-match winning streak, clinched a rise to No. 4 in the rankings, matching the highest spot ever for a British man. Neither he nor del Potro played particularly well -- each made far more unforced errors than winners -- but Murray's biggest complaint was when his request to have the overhead video boards shut off during points was denied.

In their only previous meeting in May at the Rome Masters, Murray and del Potro traded insults on court, but at Flushing Meadows they let their rackets do the talking in a nerve-racking slugfest at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

By the end of the four-hour battle, the players could barely be separated as Murray had won just five points more than his vanquished opponent. While Murray's numbers stacked up to 43 clean winners and 154 points won, del Potro also conjured 43 winners but fell short on points won with 149.

"Overall I'm very relieved," Murray said in a courtside interview. "I had my chances in the third set and let it slip.

"But Juan has been on a great run so he had some confidence and fought hard. It was a great atmosphere at the end of the match," he said.

Del Potro, at 19 the youngest man to reach the quarterfinals since 2001, had been expected to provide Murray with a stiff challenge. But Murray was quick off the blocks, racing to a 3-0 lead in the opening set. Del Potro fought back to level at 5-5 before the exertions of the past two months, during which time he won four titles, caught up with him in the tiebreak and he surrendered it 7-2.

The 17th-seeded Argentine again faded in the second-set tiebreak, losing it 7-1.

After venting his frustrations by repeatedly slamming his racket to the ground, del Potro came alive when Murray came within two games of victory. Ripping a series of stinging passing shots, he broke Murray for 5-4 and wrapped up the third set with a crisp forehand winner.

Both appeared reluctant to snatch control of the match in the fourth until Murray pounced on a forehand error by del Potro to earn two match points.

The first went begging but Murray let out a roar when del Potro's backhand floated wide on the second just two minutes short of the four-hour mark.

Before the match, Murray had said: "I've known him since we were really young. I wasn't great friends with him before. I don't need to be friends with him now."

But after sharing a compelling adventure on court that thrilled the 23,000 fans packed into the arena, the duo opted to bury their bitter memories. They patted each other on the back and exchanged warm words at the net.

"All I said was congratulations and good luck for the next match," said del Potro, who took several medical timeouts to treat knee and calf problems.

"He played an unbelievable match but he's a great player. And that's it. Today I played against one of the best players of the world," he said.

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.