Heavy storms have caused further delays at the US Open men's final. Photograph: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images The US Open men's singles final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic was suspended again because of rain in the second set.
The Spanish world No1 was leading 6-4, 4-4 against Djokovic when the rain began falling and the match was stopped. The final was originally scheduled for Sunday but was delayed by a day because of rain on the weekend.
Nadal had made a fine start in his bid to become only the seventh man in history to win all four grand slam titles. But as soon as he had the first set in the bag then some unfamiliar frailties began to set in, and it was no surprise when Djokovic seized on a pair of errors to break for a 3-1 lead.
Suddenly revitalised and firing winners all over the court, the Serb extended his lead to 4-1, more than matching his opponent for power and looking a good bet to level the match at one set all.
But serving at 4-2 it was Djokovic who faltered, a netted volley giving Nadal his first of three break-back points, the Spaniard taking his third chance with a big backhand winner down the line.
Recovering some of his first-set form, Nadal won three games in succession to level the match at 4-4 as heavy clouds began to gather overhead.
When the rain did come at 30-30 on the Djokovic serve it will have come as a relief to the Serb. And with the storm expected to last an hour Djokovic looked like having plenty of time to regroup.
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