Andy Roddick can’t keep up with Rafael Nadal at U.S. Open

Reporting from New York -- The sounds from Andy Roddick were anguished Friday, groaning, heaving grunts of effort, and then Rafael Nadal would send a screaming passing shot beyond Roddick’s reach or a spinning backhand that would dip under Roddick’s racquet.

The sound from the crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium was mostly silence, as if they couldn’t understand what was happening to Roddick.

The defending U.S. Open champion, Nadal, crushed the 2003 champion, Roddick, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3, on Friday in the last men’s quarterfinal after fourth-seeded Andy Murray had been pushed much harder by 28th-seeded John Isner. Murray won, 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2).

For the second time this year, the top four seeded men have reached the semifinals of a major tournament, and for the third time, Nadal and Murray will play each other.

Nadal beat Murray in straight sets at the French Open and in four sets at Wimbledon, and Nadal was physically tested much less than Murray was Friday.

Murray absorbed 3 hours, 24 minutes of punishment from the big-hitting, go-for-broke style of 6-foot-9 Isner, who was frequently serving nearly 140 mph.

“You’re just trying to hang on to your own serve,” Murray said. “You’re trying to just chase every ball down. It’s not like you go into kind of a classic endurance when you play against him. You have to be so explosive. It’s not like having 30-shot rallies that you might have against Rafa. You have to react all the time and stretch for balls and chase down drop volleys.”

Roddick was not able to put up the fight he wanted against Nadal. He had missed much of the summer hard-court season while treating an injured oblique muscle, and twice Friday, the trainer was out massaging Roddick’s cramping thigh.

“I had zero reserves,” Roddick said. “I didn’t have any time to train this summer. I was trying to push on serves, and I felt like I was falling over as opposed to pushing up.”

Roddick said he found the silence of the crowd “disconcerting.” He said he hoped fans realized he was giving a full effort.

“It’s almost like you have a guilt complex and you want them to know you’re trying your best. You don’t always feel that’s getting through, and I don’t like that feeling.”

Roddick was in trouble in the first game, when Nadal precisely aimed his returns and broke Roddick’s serve.

Afterward Nadal said he sensed Roddick had little power in his strokes. “I think he was tired,” Nadal said. He mentioned the effort Roddick had to give Thursday to upset fifth-seeded David Ferrer, who had knocked Nadal out of the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in January.

More scheduling troubles

For the second time in three years, a women’s semifinal will be played outside of Arthur Ashe Stadium, and officials from the WTA Tour are disappointed. Because of rain delays this week, the women’s semifinals and men’s semifinals are being played Saturday. The women’s match between ninth-seeded Samantha Stosur and 107th-ranked Angelique Kerber has been put on the Grandstand Court, the third-largest of the venues at the United States Tennis Center. The second-largest, Louis Armstrong Stadium, has been taken out of play because of water damage.

In a statement, Stacey Allaster, chief executive of the WTA said: “As I made clear … we believe that both the women’s semifinal matches merited being scheduled on Arthur Ashe stadium at times that would allow our athletes to be best prepared for a great women’s final Sunday.”

The United States Tennis Assn. said it did not want to schedule back-to-back women’s semis on Ashe on Saturday night since the women’s final is at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time Sunday. The semifinal between Serena Williams and top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki will be on Ashe at 5 p.m. Pacific time Saturday.

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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