Slam dunk: Rafa back at his crushing best in final
Spaniard puts tough seasons behind him as he takes US Open in one-sided blitz After a couple of years without competing at this very high, high level, very happy to be back.
Rafael Nadal entered this Grand Slam season on a 21⁄ year drought without so much as one appearance in a major final, let alone a title. He ends it having reasserted himself, capped by a US Open final that shaped up as quite a mismatch — and turned out to be exactly that.
His game at a higher level than it needed to be by the end of an unusually easy path through the field, Nadal overwhelmed Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-3 6-4 yesterday to win his third championship at Flushing Meadows.
“Of course, after a couple of years without competing at this very high, high level,” Nadal said, “very happy to be back.”
The No 1-ranked Nadal collected his 16th Grand Slam trophy overall and at his news conference, he wore a white T-shirt listing the date and venue of each. Among men, only Roger Federer has more, with 19. Each of those two longtime rivals won two of the four majors this season, marking their return to the heights of their sport.
Nadal has dealt with knee and wrist problems, both probably a result of his physical brand of play, during his career, but 2015 and 2016 were his first seasons without reaching at least one Grand Slam final since 2004, when he was still a teenager.
Seems safe to say that, at age 31, he is once again the Nadal of old.
“I mean, I’ve always said he’s one of the, obviously, greatest players of our sport, obviously feeling very confident,” Anderson said. “He seems to have turned around a lot of those injuries he’s experienced the last couple of years.”
At No 32, Anderson was the lowest-ranked US Open men’s finalist since the ATP computer rankings began in 1973. The 31-year-old South African never had been past the quarter-finals at any major tournament in 33 previous appearances, so when he won his semifinal at the weekend, he climbed into the stands to celebrate.
There would be no such joy for him on this day.
Nadal added to his US Open triumphs in 2010 and 2013 and improved to 16-7 in Grand Slam finals.
For the first time since 2013, he appeared in three in one season, losing to Federer at the Australian Open in January, then beating Stan Wawrinka for his record 10th French Open trophy in June.
Nadal’s career haul also includes two trophies from Wimbledon and one from the Australian Open.
Not since Pete Sampras played Wimbledon in 2000 had a man won a Slam tournament without facing any opponents ranked in the top 20.
In New York, the bracket was weakened by the injury withdrawals of three of the top five men: past champions Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Wawrinka.
Plus, Nadal did not need to deal with Federer: The potential for a semifinal, which would have been their first US Open meeting, was dashed when Juan Martin del Potro eliminated Federer in the quarters.
Much like Nadal’s 6-2 6-3 6-1 win against Wawrinka at Roland Garros, the beauty of this match was not in its competitiveness — not by a long shot — but in an appreciation for one participant’s absolute superiority.
Forehands whipped up the line. Two-handed backhands ripped cross-court with ferocity. Spinning, back-to-the-net returns of serves darted in at Anderson at more than 210km/h and helped break him four times.
Nadal even came up with some terrific volleys, winning the point on all 16 of his trips to the net.
Anderson, meanwhile, finished 16 for 34 in that category. Another difference-maker: Nadal never faced a break point, although that was more a reflection of his talent once the ball was in play than particularly dominant serving.
When the Spaniard broke to lead 4-2 in the second set, that was pretty much that.
“I always accepted all the challenges that my career present to me. The good news and the negative news, I accepted in the same way, in a very natural way. I am a person that I don’t have much ups and downs,” Nadal said.
“When I am in a negative moment, I don’t go very down. When I am in a positive moment, probably like now, I don’t believe that I am that good.”
Rafael Nadal