U.S. Open: Murray d. Berdych

NEW YORK—A devious gust blew the baseball cap right off Andy Murray's head, erasing a would-be winner and prompting the Scot to slam the mis-behaving cap to the court. On a blustery day that threatened to blow the lid right off self-control, Murray maintained his calm amid chaotic conditions. The third seed tamed the tricky elements and an explosive Tomas Berdych, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7), to surge into the U.S. Open final for the first time since 2008.

While it wasn't quite the tennis typhoon that was the 2004 U.S. Open quarterfinal between Roger Federer and Andre Agassi, the unruly wind gusts of 25 M.P.H. made the simple act of a ball toss an adventure. Murray managed the elements better as Berdych, who has a soaring ball toss, sometimes looking like a man trying to trap a runaway butterfly with a paper cup while chasing the fluttering ball. Murray made only 20 errors—44 fewer than his opponent. The big-hitting Czech was averaging 14 aces per match through the quarterfinals, but he managed just half that total against the elastic Murray today. Relying on his expansive reach and shrewd anticipation, Murray made Berdych play on his serve, converting seven of 22 break points.

Heavy rains tore through the National Tennis Center starting at about 10:30 a.m. and lasted about 75 minutes, postponing the scheduled 11 a.m. start time. The rains subsided, but the wind stuck around, serving as a mischievous party crasher: It blew towels, water bottles, plastic bags, and even a couple of the director's chairs across the court and added a degree of difficulty to the semifinal, as the pair sometimes looked like men trading lurching shots on a boat bobbing around on Flushing Bay.

"It was brutal; you had to focus for every single point and get yourself in the right position for every shot," Murray told CBS' Mary Joe Fernandez. "The ball was sometimes stopping and moving the other way, chairs were sometimes flying on court. It was some of the toughest conditions I've ever played in and I'm from Scotland."

Down break point, Murray was hitting a drop shot winner when a burst of wind blew his baseball cap off. Berdych immediately complained that the head blow was a hindrance, but chair umpire Pascal Maria disagreed, ruling the play was complete when the cap came off. Murray agreed to replay the point, but when his lob floated long to hand back the break, the cap played the price as he slammed it to the blue court. The big man soon coaxed successive errors for double set point. Pounding a flat return that bit at Murray's feet, Berdych blasted a forehand winner down the line, mastering the elements and Murray to snatch a gusty 75-minute set.

Murray looked like a man raging against the tempest, pounding his palm against his forehead after maddening errors, but he's a problem solver who enjoys the tactical tests, and showed it today. The Scot won eight of the first nine points when play resumed, including a loopy lob and gorgeous volley winner he scraped off the court, breaking in building a 2-0 second-set lead. When Berdych floated a shot deep, Murray locked down the second set to level after two hours of play.

Unruly conditions conspired against the flat-hitting Czech forcing him to reach for shots, while Murray colluded with the wind, using no-pace underspin, sharper slice, and sudden bursts of flat shots to make his opponent flail. The elements were challenging but appeal to Murray's match temperament: He'd rather bamboozle you into frustration than blow you off court. On a fifth set point, a tormented Berdych sailed a concessionary forehand beyond the baseline as Murray scored his third break to take a two sets to one lead. Murray delivered three straight love holds in the set.

Credit Berdych for hitting with more conviction, attacking net with more frequency, and fighting off three break points to hold with a winner off the baseline, leaving Murray muttering. Berdych broke back for 2-3 in the fourth set, snapping a streak of nine straight holds. Berdych opened the tiebreaker cracking a cross-court forehand winner, and later fired a 129 M.P.H ace down the T for a 5-2 advantage. Murray saved a set point with a bold backhand winner down the line, and Berdych saved a match point with his seventh ace for 7-7. That was his final stand, as Murray closed in three hours and 58 minutes. Continuing his quest to become the first British man to win a major since Fred Perry won the U.S. Championships in 1936, Murray will meet Novak Djokovic or David Ferrer in the final.