New York - Roger Federer was quietly praising the weather gods after securing his place in a fifth straight final at the US Open while rival Rafael Nadal was caught out in his semi-final by torrential rain which swept the event on Saturday. Remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna forced top seed Nadal and Andy Murray off court with the Scot having won the first two sets but trailing a breaking the second, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 2-3.
Four-time champion Federer moved to within one victory of an historic run of titles at Flushing Meadows as he won a replay of last year's final 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 over Novak Djokovic.
Officials cancelled play for the rest of the day - including the evening final between Serb Jelena Jankovic and Serena Williams - and said they would put a rescheduling plan into action.
According to officials, Murray and Nadal would resume on Sunday afternoon while the women's final would be held from 0000 GMT at the earliest, subject to scheduling of American gridiron football matches.
Federer booked his place with a breakthrough win over Djokovic, who defeated him in the Australian Open semi-finals in January with the Swiss suffering glandular fever.
"The pressure is off," said the 12-time grand Slam champion after moving to a 7-2 record over Djokovic.
"Now you can look forward and just try to win. The pressure is always on in the early rounds, coming through and not gettingupset early on
"Once you get to the semis you can maybe play a little bit more freely again, because you are also playing opponents who you know most likely have a better chance to beat you."
Federer's popular victory was his 33rd straight in New York and marked his 160th win at a Grand Slam.
"I prefer the trophy, that's what I prefer," Federer said when asked which opponent he would wish to face for a possible 13th Grand Slam title.
"I'm so excited to be back in another final, I have worked hard all season to do well in the big ones. It would be great to get another one here," he said after firing 20 aces for the afternoon.
The second seed maintained his record of never having lost at the final four stage at Flushing Meadows; each time that he has reached the semis he's gone onto win the title.
The Swiss was playing in his 18th successive Grand Slam semi-final and saved himself a possible drop to the number three ranking had Djokovic gone onto win the trophy.
Murray got off to an impressive start against Nadal, who had beaten him in all five of their matches.
Murray, seeded sixth but moving up to fourth in the next rankings, is bidding to become the first British player to reach the New York final since Greg Rusedski 11 years ago.
Murray won his first set against Nadal since the 2007 Australian Open breaking twice to take the early lead in 33 minutes from the Spaniard's backhand error.
The Scot didn't flinch in the second to go through in a tiebreaker, but trailed Nadal as light drizzle turned into a downpour which forced cancellation of the day's programme.
