Rain postpones Nadal match at U.S. Open

Rafael Nadal had a one-set lead over Fernando Gonzalez Thursday before rain forced a postponement of their U.S. Open quarterfinal match.

Nadal and Gonzalez waited through two long rain delays before tournament officials decided shortly after midnight EDT the weather would not cooperate. The rain had stopped and the court had been dried in anticipation of resuming the match, but because additional showers were moving into the area the decision was made to postpone the match until Friday.

Nadal won the first set in a tiebreak and the second set was also in a tiebreak tied at 2-2 when the action was halted.

The winner of the Nadal-Gonzalez match will meet Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals. Del Potro rallied Thursday to defeat Marin Cilic in their quarterfinal match 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic battled their way into the semifinals Wednesday.

Del Potro will be playing in his second grand slam semifinal after winning 17 of the final 20 games in his meeting with Cilic.

Cilic made 53 unforced errors in a match that lasted 2 hours, 33 minutes. Del Potro played in the French Open semifinals this year, where he lost to Federer.