NEW YORK (AFP) - British sixth seed Andy Murray advanced to the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday with a 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/1), 4-6, 7-5 victory over 17th-seeded Argentine teen titan Juan Martin Del Potro. Murray ensured his rise to a career-high fourth in next week's ATP rankings, matching the highest spot any British man has ever held, by halting the South American's 23-match win streak to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final.
Serving to force a fourth-set tie-breaker, Del Potro netted a forehand to give Murray two match points. The South American saved the first with a service winner but sent a backhand wide to end the drama after three hours, 58 minutes.
"I'm very relieved," Murray said. "I had my chances to put it away earlier and let it slip away. It was unbelievable."
The lanky 21-year-old Scotsman booked a Saturday date against the winner of a later match between American Mardy Fish and top-ranked Spaniard Rafael Nadal, the Wimbledon, French Open and Olympic champion who is 5-0 against Murray.
Murray has won 17 of his past 19 ATP matches, losing only to Nadal in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the semi-finals at Montreal.
After titles this year at Doha, Marseille and Cincinnati to give him six career ATP crowns, Murray has matched Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski as the top-rated Britons in tennis history.
Del Potro, 19, was on an amazing run - no other man had won his first four titles in a row - and reached his first Slam quarter-final after taking Open tuneup crowns in Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel, Los Angeles and Washington.
A victory over Murray would have likely jumped Del Potro, rated 65th at the start of July, into the top 10 on Monday.
Del Potro, the youngest US Open quarter-finalist since Andy Roddick in 2001, had his left knee repeatedly checked by a trainer during what was a bit of a grudge match.
In their only prior ATP meeting at Rome in May, Del Potro retired in the third set but only after Murray had rebuked him for a comment about Murray's mother, who was cheering her son from the stands.
In Wednesday's third set, Murray sent a backland long to surrender a break and a 5-4 lead to Del Potro, the Argentine ace then holding to claim the set.
Murray began the fourth set by handing Del Potro a break on back-to-back double faults, but the South American lifted Murray level at 2-2 by sending a forehand long to give back the break as fatigue gripped both men.
Murray fought off three break points to hold in the fifth game but gave away a break with a wide backhand in the seventh, only to pull back level 4-4 when Del Potro netted back-to-back forehands to surrender yet another break, setting the stage for the decisive last-game break.
Del Potro netted a forehand to surrender the first break of the second set and give Murray a 6-5 lead but the Scotsman was broken at love to force a tie-breaker.
Murray opened it with two forehand winners. Del Potro followed by netting a backhand and two forehands and two more errant shots handed Murray the set.
Murray captured the opening set by winning the last six points of the tie-breaker, the last coming when Del Potro swatted a forehand beyond the baseline.
by Jim Slater
http://news.yahoo.com
tennis US Open
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