Andy Murray's electrifying start to his first grand slam semi-final was halted by rain in New York on Sunday morning with the British number one leading US Open top seed Rafael Nadal two sets to love.
Murray had lost all five of his previous meetings with Nadal, and had not won a set against the Spaniard since their first encounter at the 2007 Australian Open, most recently losing in the Wimbledon quarter-finals and in Toronto.
Yet the sixth seed stole a march on the new world number one by taking the first two sets 6-2 7-6 (7-5) at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre.
The match had been scheduled to take place on Arthur Ashe Stadium following the first semi-final of the day between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic but with tropical storm Hanna fast approaching the New York area, Murray and Nadal were switched to the second show court on Louis Armstrong Stadium as play began while Federer and Djokovic were still playing next door.
The 21-year-old Scot had pointed out the need to improve his return of serve as a key to success against Nadal and he signalled his intent by claiming the first point of the match with a forehand winner before the world number one held service.
Murray, a three-time ATP Tour winner this year, won his first service game to love and earned his first break in the next game.
Nadal, the reigning French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic champion, had claimed he had not yet been at his best in New York as he continued to recover from his recent success in Beijing.
Murray, though, was in a confident mood and he claimed a second break to take a 5-2 lead and serve for the set, which he claimed with a winning volley.
Nadal upped his game in the second set, holding off three break points in the third game.
Murray continued his attack of the left-hander's serve, forcing the Spaniard to save two more break points in the fifth game.
Murray's first service was at the best it had been all tournament, the end of the eighth game seeing him reach a 73-percent first-service for the second set, 63-percent for the match.
As if to underline the point, he won his next service game to love with an ace down the middle to level the set at 5-5 on serve.
With confidence brimming, Murray's return was also firing on all cylinders, the Scot executing a forehand winner off Nadal's serve on the way to securing his sixth break point of the set. Nadal, though, stuck to his task to save but could not deal with a booming forehand that he sent long.
Facing another break point, the world number one dug deep once again, sending Murray from corner to corner before wrong-footing his rival and burying a forehand winner on the way to another crucial hold of serve.
The set went into a tie-break, with Murray twice failing to capitalise on mini-breaks, the second time seeing him serve his first double fault of the match to let Nadal level at 3-3.
Murray had some luck when Nadal saw a return of his second serve bounce off the top of the net and fall the wrong side and he gained set point at 6-5 with Nadal serving and sending a backhand wide.
Murray clenched his fists in delight as he