New York: Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray reached the quarter-finals of the men's singles event at the US Open in a chaotic day of play on Thursday.
After two rain-soaked days at Flushing Meadows left nerves frayed and the schedule in disarray, the sun finally made an appearance. That allowed four fourth-round men's matches - originally supposed to be played on Tuesday, they were suspended after 15 minutes on Wednesday - to get going in earnest, finally.
Nadal, the defending champion, beat Gilles Muller 7-6 (1), 6-1, 6-2, while Murray eliminated Donald Young 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.
Nadal was down a break and trailing 3-0 when play was stopped on Wednesday because of rain. He, Roddick and Murray then marched to the office of tournament referee Brian Earley to voice their complaints about the safety of the courts.
On Thursday, taking full advantage of a fresh start, Nadal dominated Muller, getting the first set back on serve and claiming the tie-breaker 7-1, before racing through the last two sets.
The 68th-ranked Muller had not faced a seeded player in his first three matches. The lefty from Luxembourg reached the quarter-finals at the 2008 Open as a qualifier for his best performance at a Grand Slam, then was sidelined by a knee injury.
Nadal was coming off treatment for painful leg cramps during his post-match news conference on Sunday, then was frustrated on Wednesday that tournament officials tried to start play in less-than-ideal conditions.
He still faces a tough road to defend his title, potentially having to play four matches in four days.
Meanwhile, Murray emphatically ended American Donald Young's breakthrough run at the US Open.
The fourth-ranked Brit won 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2008. The match was supposed to begin on Tuesday, but the players only got in only three games on Wednesday before rain postponed play again.
The 22-year-old Young was in his first Grand Slam round-of-16, upsetting 14th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka and 24th-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela along the way. A former top junior player who had struggled to live up to high expectations, Young is projected to reach a career-high ranking of around 56th.
Murray quickly took control though, as Young had 53 unforced errors.
Murray made his first Grand Slam final at Flushing Meadows three years ago, the only time he previously advanced past the fourth round at the Open.
Murray next plays 28th-seeded John Isner, who reached the first Grand Slam quarter-final of his career.
The American Isner sweated through 10 shirts and had to send someone to go get him more, as he won three tie-breakers to beat France's Gilles Simon 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) in three hours, 39 minutes on a humid Thursday afternoon.
The 12th-seeded Simon had a chance to serve out the first set and had set points in the fourth, but the big-serving Isner is tough to beat once he gets into tie-breakers, coming in with a 30-19 record this year.
The 26-year-old Isner is most famous for his marathon Wimbledon match last year, but now has a chance to be known as a Major semi-finalist.
With Andy Roddick also winning, there are two American men in the US Open quarters for the first time since 2008.
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