He explained, though, that he was thrilled to have seen his favorite comedic actor, Will Ferrell, in the stands Sunday, and was also excited to have spotted members of the cast of the TV show "Entourage" at the tournament.

"That's awesome," the 21-year-old Murray said. "You don't get that back home."

Others might be star-struck staring across the net at Federer, who will be attempting to win his 13th Grand Slam title while Murray chases his first.

But get this: Murray owns a 2-1 career mark against Federer.

"He's probably the greatest player ever, so to get the chance to play against him in a Slam final is an honor," Murray said. "But I've played well against him in the past and hopefully ... I'll do that again tomorrow."

Nadal, meanwhile, was hoping to become only the fourth man in the 40-year Open era to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles, joining Rod Laver, Pete Sampras and Federer. But Nadal has never had as much success on the hard courts of the U.S. Open as on the clay of Roland Garros or the grass of the All England Club.

He beat Federer in the finals at both of those places this year and surpassed him atop the rankings last month.

On Saturday and yesterday, though, Murray exhibited precisely the sort of winner-evaporating defense that Nadal usually employs to wear down opponents.

Murray also stood way back to return serves, sometimes 10 feet behind the baseline, in order to better adjust to the heavy spins Nadal uses.

It was the mix of strokes and smarts that have allowed Murray to progress so quickly and guarantee that he'll reach a career-high ranking of No. 4 after the U.S. Open. One sign of his growth: He had won only two of 14 sets he and Nadal had played as professionals, then matched that total Saturday.

Murray faced some real tests of nerves in the fourth set, including a break point in the first game that he saved with one of his 21 aces.

Another gut-check moment came in the next game, when Murray accumulated seven break points — and let all go to waste, part of a span in which he went 0-for-15 on such chances. It was a 22-point, 15-minute novella of a game, filled with highs and lows, physical and mental, for both men.

Murray might have folded there and, indeed, his downward spiral continued when he made four unforced errors and was broken at love to fall behind 2-1.

"The momentum was kind of with him a little bit," Murray said. "I just had to stay aggressive, stay focused."

He did just that.

Trailing 3-1, Murray fell behind love-30 in his next service game. But the Scotsman took advantage as Nadal sailed two forehands long around a missed drop volley try, and Murray broke to get even at 3-3.

The crowd was supporting Nadal, something Murray understood completely.

"If I was a spectator," Murray said, "I would have rather watched more tennis as well."

Now he'll have as good a view as possible of Federer.

"I played well enough to beat the No. 1 player in the world over two days, and I've beaten Roger in the past," Murray said. "I have the tennis to compete with those guys."

(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2008)