I really became a Murray fan after he defeated Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5. He has a tremendous backhand and a very good serve. He changes speed as smooth as a good driver changes gears in a race car and he’s very clever.

Nadal and Murray played a tiring three hours and 30 minutes. Of the 275 points contested, Murray earned 149. He had 11 more winners than unforced errors. He made Nadal very un-Nadal-like, forcing him to commit eight more unforced errors than winners. Even more remarkable, Murray had 21 aces against one of the game’s best returners, and only three double faults.

He kept Nadal off balance varying the pace, returning serve from almost the baseline fence and he made Nadal, whose game is running, cover more of the court than normal by using the width and depth as if he was teaching a class in geometry.

It seems that Federer has grown resentful, and he’s a very classy guy, over what has had been written this year about his not having mononucleosis. I think in Australia it played a factor in his loss to Djokovic in the semifinals. He is now 7-2 in his career against Djokovic and I think he wanted to prove a point.

For the second year in a row, all four U.S. Open semifinalists were from Europe, and it was the first time since 1992 that the top three seeds reached the semis. Federer, who has 36 career hard court titles that ties him with Pete Sampras, was the only one in the group who hadn’t won a tournament on the surface this year. Murray has won three and both Djokovic and Nadal two each.

The U.S. Open has been Murray’s favorite tournament since he won the Boys’ championship as a 17-year-old in 2004. He has become a factor in the men’s game, and I think that is wonderful for Britain. He will be on all the front pages Monday morning and admits that, in the past, he didn’t deal well with the press.

This is not surprising since the tabloids would kill anyone who isn’t Christ. Still, his career record is 2-1 against Federer, having defeated him in Dubai this year 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 and at Cincinnati two years ago.

Federer is chasing Sampras, who won a record 14 majors. He has 12 now, and 34 straight wins in New York. (Bill Tilden holds the tournament record with 42.) He is looking to put a sunny look on what has been a drab year.

Murray is much more subtle than Djokovic, and I think he will give Federer trouble. He has a real shot, and though he will not have as much rest as the defending champion, with the match starting tomorrow night at 5 p.m., I don’t think this will be a problem. It’s his first major, but he has proved he can compete.

I’m not very good at picking winners, but I’m picking Murray.

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