Flushing Meadows, NY (My Sportsbook) - The Rafael Nadal-Fernando Gonzalez men's quarterfinal at the U.S. Open was supposed to conclude on Friday, but was postponed until Saturday because of some all-day rain in New York.
The third-seeded Nadal was leading the 11th-seeded Gonzalez 7-6 (7-4), 6-6 (3-2) when their Thursday-night affair was suspended until Friday because of inclement weather. And the two stars never took to the court at Ashe Stadium on Friday afternoon because of wet and windy conditions at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center.
The men's final, originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon here, has been moved to Monday for a second year in a row.
The eventual Nadal-Gonzalez winner will meet sixth-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals on Sunday.
The former world No. 1 Nadal is the reigning Australian Open champion and needs the U.S. Open to complete a career Grand Slam. He missed two months of action this summer while battling knee injuries and has been plagued by an abdominal strain at this particular fortnight.
The other men's semi here, which was established on Wednesday, will pit top- ranked Roger Federer against fourth-seeded Serbian star Novak Djokovic. The reigning Wimbledon, French Open and five-time U.S. Open champion Federer beat Djokovic in the final here two years ago. The 15-time major titlist Federer, who currently holds three of the four major titles (U.S. Open, Wimbledon, French Open), topped Britain's Murray in last year's Monday title bout in New York.
The 2009 U.S. Open champ will pocket $1.6 million.
The men's doubles final was pushed back to Saturday, at which time, weather permitting, a third-seeded team of Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles will face a fourth-seeded tandem of Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes. The reigning French Open champions Dlouhy and Paes were last year's runners-up here to Americans Bob and Mike Bryan, whom they upset in the semifinals this week.