Nadal beats Roddick, heads to semifinals

Whipping passing shots from all angles and returning superbly, the No. 2-seeded Nadal beat No. 21 Roddick 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 on Friday to reach the semifinals at Flushing Meadows for the fourth consecutive year.

Nadal compiled a stunning 22-0 edge in forehand winners and broke Roddick’s powerful serve six times.

"It was quick. Obviously, it was a combination of things that probably weren’t going to work out today,” said Roddick, who had trouble pushing off on his fatigued legs and was massaged by a trainer during a medical timeout in the third set. "It was evident pretty early that he was in full control.”

Nadal took the first four games against the 2003 U.S. Open champion thanks to two breaks in the opening 18 minutes, then took 16 of the last 17 points to close the second set.

"The beginning of the match was really important,” Nadal said. "Andy had a really tough match yesterday. Probably, he was tired. Sorry for him.”

Seeking his 11th Grand Slam title, Nadal has yet to drop a set heading into Saturday’s semifinal against No. 4 Andy Murray, who beat No. 28 John Isner 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) earlier Friday.

The other semifinal was set up by Thursday’s quarterfinals, and it’ll be a big one, too: No. 1 Novak Djokovic against No. 3 Roger Federer, who has won five of his record 16 Grand Slam championships at the U.S. Open.

For the second time in the last three major tournaments, the final foursome is filled by the top four men in the game — but it hasn’t happened at the U.S. Open since 1992.

"They’re pretty firmly the best players in the world right now,” Roddick said. "They certainly deserve the numbers next to their names.” Djokovic is 62-2 with nine titles in 2011, including at Wimbledon and the Australian Open.

His first loss this season came when Federer ended Djokovic’s 43- match winning streak in a thrilling French Open semifinal.

Nadal has won 12 of 16 career matchups against Murray, including beating him in the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon this year.

"That’s the most aggressive I’ve seen him play this summer. He came out swinging,” Roddick said about Nadal. "He has a tendency to play himself into tournaments, and then by the end, he’s taking cuts. I feel like today he was doing that.”

The exits by Roddick and Isner — with first lady Michelle Obama sitting in the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium — mean this will be the 32nd Grand Slam tournament in a row without a male champion from the United States, extending the country’s longest drought, which dates to Roddick’s 2003 triumph in New York.