U.S. OPEN Djokovic closes out a stellar summer with third U.S. Open title

NEW YORK Novak Djokovic offered another powerful reminder Sunday that, when it comes to Grand Slam tennis, he is not going anywhere.

After a 2017 season in which Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal left tennis fans blinking in disbelief at their ability to turn back time and own majors as if they were in their 20s, Djokovic closed 2018 with a dominant performance against Juan Martin del Potro to claim his third U.S. Open title - and first since 2015.

He closed his win with a yelp, barely audible over del Potro’s ebullient fans. It came as Djokovic smashed a championship-winning forehand. He fell to the ground on the spot after a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 victory at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

It is his 14th Grand Slam title, which ties him with Pete Sampras for third on the alltime major singles titles list behind Federer’s 20 and Nadal’s 17.

The No. 6 seed won a knotty, loud but drama-free final as the tennis world was still reeling from Saturday’s controversial title match between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, and he won with the crowd gunning for del Potro.

His victory follows a Wimbledon title that announced his return to the game’s top tier after a February surgery waylaid him for a few months. The U.S. Open championship took his resurgence a step further.

“There was always part of me that believed I could come back relatively quickly to the level of tennis that I once was playing,” Djokovic, 31, said before Sunday’s match.

Top-seeded Nadal had been favored to win this tournament from the start. Most predicted the Spaniard as the one most capable of surviving intensely hot, humid conditions as well as night matches that stretch –

U.S. OPEN / 10 Jimmy Garoppolo of the San Francisco 49ers passes the ball in the first half of the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday in Minneapolis, Minn.