Sweet 16 for Nadal
Spaniard beats Anderson for 3rd U.S. Open, 16th major; Stephens wins women’s title
NEW YORK — Rafael Nadal against Kevin Anderson in the U.S. Open final shaped up as quite a mismatch — and that’s exactly what it was.
His game at a high level at the end of an unusually easy path through a Grand Slam field, Nadal overwhelmed Anderson, a firsttime major finalist, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to win his third championship at Flushing Meadows.
It was also the No. 1-ranked Nadal’s second Grand Slam title of the year and 16th overall. Among men, only Roger Federer has more, with 19.
Each of those two longtime rivals won two of the four majors in 2017, marking a return of both to the heights of their sport.
Not only didn’t an injury-hampered Nadal win a Grand Slam tournament in 2015 or 2016 — his first such shutouts since 2004, when he was still a teenager — but he didn’t even make it to a final in that span. Seems safe to say that, at age 31, he is once again the Nadal of old.
“Personally, it’s just unbelievable what happened this year,” Nadal said, “after a couple of years with some troubles, injuries, some moments playing not good.”
At No. 32, Anderson was the lowest-ranked U.S. Open men’s finalist since the ATP computer rankings began in 1973.
The 31-year-old South African never had been past the quarterfinals at any major tournament in 33 previous appearances, so when he won his semifinal on Friday, he climbed into the stands to celebrate.
There would be no such joy for him on this day. Nadal simply dominated every facet of the 2 1/2-hour final. In the women’s final, Sloane Stephens dominated a shaky Madison Keys and won 6-3, 6-0 on Saturday to earn her first Grand Slam title.
The 83rd-ranked Stephens became only the second unseeded woman to win the U.S. Open since 1968.