Business-like Nadal banks third US Open crown, 16th Slam
Arelentless Rafael Nadal thumped Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to win the US Open late Sunday night, earning the Spaniard his second grand slam title of the season and 16th of his career.
While women’s tennis produced two first Grand Slam winners this season, the old guard continues to reign supreme in the men’s game, with Nadal and long-time rival Roger Federer sweeping the majors with two apiece.
It marked the fourth US Open final and third title for Nadal, but the first time without Novak Djokovic on the other side of the net.
“Personally it’s just unbelievable what happened this year after a couple years with some troubles, injuries, some moments playing not good,” 31-year-old Nadal told a cheering crowd.
“Since the first important event of the year in Australia I’ve been playing, I think, a very high level of tennis and closed the Grand Slam year winning here in New York.”
The world number one was as brilliant as he was business-like, keeping the towering South African under constant pressure and denying him a single break point.
For 31-year-old journeyman Anderson, a Grand Slam breakthrough was not to be, his booming serve having no impact against a near-perfect performance from Nadal in front of a soldout crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Nadal committed just 11 unforced errors in his 23rd major final.
“We are the same age but I feel I’ve been watching you my whole life. You are an idol of mine,” said Anderson, praising his opponent.
“You are one of the greatest ambassadors of our sport.”
Certainly the Grand Slam experience was all with Nadal, but big-hitting Anderson showed no signs of jitters on the big stage of his first major final.
Nadal was quick to put his opponent’s composure and service game to the test, and Anderson needed to fight off a pair of break chances at 1-1 and again at 2-2.
However, Nadal continued to apply the heat until his persistence was finally rewarded with a break to go up 4-3.
That was all he needed as he held WORLD NO. 1 Rafael Nadal celebrates with the trophy after beating 28th-seeded Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday night in the US Open final to capture his 16th career Grand Slam title and second of 2017. serve then broke again to clinch the set with a cheeky drop shot.
Nadal continued to hammer away at Anderson, securing another break at 4-2 on the way to a two-set lead.
With the title within sight, Nadal locked in on the prize, breaking Anderson to open the final set.
The 32nd-ranked South African continued to battle to the finish, but with Nadal playing superb all-court tennis, there was no weakness for him to exploit.
In the end, he and the crowd could only watch as Nadal punched his hands into the air in victory, one finger raised to signal his status as No. 1 in New York and the world.
Rafa savors being part of dream generation
Belonging to a generation of era-defining champions is of greater importance to Nadal than his long-term rivalry with Federer.
Sunday’s victory triggered speculations on his chances of surpassing Federer’s record of 19 major championships.
“Of course this rivalry has been important for our sport, in my opinion,” Nadal said of his battles with the Swiss great.
“That involved a lot of people, and because of different styles, different characters, and we played for the most important things for such a long time, I think that was the great promotion for our sport,” said Nadal.
“I feel happy to be part of this rivalry, but at the same time, I played even more matches with Novak Djokovic than with Roger in such important matches, too.”
Since Nadal won the first of this 10 French Open titles, he, Federer and Djokovic have won 43 of the 51 Grand Slams.
“In my career, I have been involved in different rivalries. I feel lucky to be part of all of them in some way. In another way, I have been in an era where three players achieved 19, 16 and 12 Grand Slams,” he said, referring to himself, Federer and Djokovic.
“That’s a lot, no? There is a remarkable part of the history of our sport. So that means was difficult for everybody to win titles in this part of the, in this era.”
Since then, only Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic have managed to win major titles.
“We are in an era that is not nice to say, because I’m part of it, but we are in an era that some players make incredible things in this sport, no?” asked Nadal.
“Happy to be part of it, and I feel lucky to be part of it and enjoying the fact that I have been involved in some way in the two rivalries. That is amazing, no?”
Nadal and Djokovic have played each other 50 times, the Serbian prevailing 26 times but losing three of their four major final encounters.
The Spaniard has a 23-14 win-loss record against Federer and he won six of their nine finals at a major.
“I think nobody played more matches against each other like Novak and I and with Roger, because we competed for such a long time for the first and second spots and competed for most important events,” said Nadal.
“It’s been great but at the same time, there have been difficult moments to win a lot of titles, but in some way, we should be very happy about all the things that happened to us, and probably everybody, we feel lucky in some way.” (Reuters)