Rafael Nadal, Anderson in final showdown

New York: Rafael Nadal was at his awe-inspiring best as he recovered from a first set wobble to crush Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 in the US Open semi-finals on Friday and move within reach of a 16th Grand Slam title.

The Spaniard struggled to handle Del Potro's serve and huge forehand in the opening set before finding his stride to set up a title-decider with South Africa's Kevin Anderson on Sunday.

Anderson battled back to defeat 12th seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 and punch his ticket to his first Grand Slam final.

The 31-year-old, ranked 32 in the world, is the lowest-ranked Grand Slam finalist since 38th-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fell at the 2008 Australian Open final.

Del Potro, who had played a total of nine sets in the two previous rounds as Nadal cruised into the last four, ran out of gas and looked toothless against the Spanish juggernaut.

Nadal ended the 2009 champion's ordeal with a splendid backhand passing shot on his first match point, four years after his last title at Flushing Meadows.

The 6ft 8in Anderson climbed into the player's box to embrace his wife, brother and coach Neville Godwin after Busta's forehand found the net that marked the climax to the nearly three-hour contest.

Anderson was out of sorts to begin with. He hit 14 unforced errors including a backhand that sailed long to hand the composed Busta a rare break to go up 4-3 in the first set.

The Spaniard closed it out but Anderson settled down after a see-sawing second set and delivered his 20th ace, a 132 mile per hour bullet, to take the third.

The South African's power eventually wore down the 26-year-old Busta, who had not dropped a set in the tournament prior to the match.