Andy Murray serves notice to self to get better

Andy Murray reached the quarter-finals of the US Open yesterday with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Donald Young, the US wild card, then acknowledged he would need to improve his serving if he is to win his first major. Murray avenged his loss to the 84th-ranked Young at Indian Wells in March to reach the last eight at Flushing Meadows for the first time since he fell in the 2008 final to Roger Federer. The clash had originally been scheduled for Tuesday, when rain washed out all play for first time since 2006. Murray made short work of Young yesterday, winning the first five games of the day to claim the first set, before winning the next two, despite serving inconsistently and being broken three times by Young. "I'm pleased to get off and get some rest because it's a long few days ahead," the Briton said in his post-match court side interview. "I had good length today, I was very consistent from back. I could've made it easer by serving better, and I'll go out and hit some serves this afternoon." Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal, the defending champion, completed a resounding 7-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Gilles Muller to book his own spot in the last eight. Nadal trailed 3-0 after Wednesday's short interlude, but wasted no time exerting his superiority yesterday, getting the first set back on serve and claiming the tiebreaker 7-1 before racing through the next two sets. "Yesterday was a tough day for everybody," Nadal told the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. "Sorry, but thank you very much for still being here." The dry weather yesterday was a welcome break for staff at Flushing Meadows, but there were still problems on the Louis Armstrong Stadium. America's Andy Roddick and David Ferrer of Spain were forced to move their fourth round match to court 13 because water was seeping through a crack in the court surface behind one of the baselines. Towels, tape and a vacuum device were all tried, with the surreal sight of Brian Earley, the tournament referee, pushing a towel around with his foot. After more than an hour's delay, the players were called back on court but Roddick was clearly unimpressed, telling Earley he was "baffled" why they were out there when water was still coming through, before the decision was made to move to court 13 for a match that was continuing last night.