New York: Rafa Nadal has long been king of Paris clay but he was just as dominant on the New York hard court here Sunday as he collected Grand Slam title No.16 with a clinical demolition of Kevin Anderson in the US Open tennis tournament final. He thus ended a three-year title drought having last won here in 2017
The Spaniard insists nothing comes easy to him on any court but scanning his list of Grand Slam final triumphs one would be hard-pressed to find anything more comprehensive than this 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory on the Arthur Ashe Stadium courts.
The 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 thrashing of Stan Wawrinka at Roland Garros in June or the 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 win over Roger Federer in 2008 that earned him another of his 10 French Open crowns might have been more ruthless, but they were no more complete.
While his battling South African opponent kept the contest from being a complete blowout, there was never a single moment when Nadal was under threat.
Despite being one of biggest servers on the ATP Tour, Anderson was unable make a dent in Nadal’s defence and failed to get a single breakpoint on the Nadal serve in his maiden Grand Slam final.
“It was more the conundrum of playing Rafa as opposed to being in my first final,” said Anderson after his defeat. “His competitiveness, consistency at that level. He never goes away.”
While women’s tennis produced two first-time Grand Slam winners this season, the old guard continued to rule supreme in the men’s game with Nadal and Federer sweeping the Majors with two apiece.
It marks the fourth time Nadal has won at least two major titles in a year and just the seventh time since tennis went professional in 1968 that a men’s Grand Slam final was contested by two players 30 and over.
In the Nadal was on top from the start. He had 28th-seeded Anderson scrambling to save two breakpoints in the third and fifth games before the Spaniard converted his fifth off a forehand error for a 4-3 lead.
The World No.1 held and broke again, cleverly forcing the 31-year-old South African out of position on set point after 58 minutes of action.
The one-way traffic continued in the second set as Nadal broke for 4-2 off the back of three successive volleys. A brutal crosscourt forehand winner gave Nadal the second set 6-3.
Anderson was broken again in the opening game of the third set. Anderson called the trainer for a bloodied right index finger after the fifth game, but his struggles continued. He saved a match point but Nadal wrapped it up with a clinical backhand volley.
16 and still counting
Rafael Nadal described the year 2017 as ‘one of the best of his career’ here Sunday after winning a third US Open and 16th Grand Slam.
“In terms of results, this has been one of the best seasons of my career, of course,” Nadal admitted of a year in which he won two Slams.
“I have been winning titles, playing three finals of Grand Slams, so that’s a lot. That’s so difficult. The other Slam (Wimbledon) that I was not in the final, I lost the match 15-13 in the fifth set in the quarterfinals. So it was very competitive year for me. Of course it is an emotional season because I have been through tough moments in terms of injuries,” added the Spaniard.
Nadal’s win Sunday was the latest chapter in an epic story of domination by the sport’s superstars. From Wimbledon in 2003, an incredible 53 of 58 Slams have now been claimed by just five men – Federer Federer (19), Nadal (16), Novak Djokovic (12) and Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka with three apiece.
Only Andy Roddick, Gaston Gaudio, Marat Safin, Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic have broken the spell.
“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,” Nadal pointed out.
“It’s difficult to win a lot of titles. We should be very happy. Probably even Roger and me and Novak, we won much more than we ever dreamed.”
Despite his success, catching the 19 Majors of Federer is not particularly high on Nadal’s list of priorities.
“I really never thought much about that. I just do my way. He does his way. Let’s see when we finish,” he asserted. “I have 16. So three is big difference. I really don’t think much about these kind of things. Well done for Roger that he is having an amazing season, too, and well done for me because I’m having a great season, too.
“Tennis is not all about the Grand Slams, so there are tournaments to come and I’m excited about this last part of the season.”
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