News Americas, FLUSHING, NY, Mon. Sept. 9, 2013: There’s just no stopping Rafael Nadal.
Nadal slammed his way to his second U.S. Open win Monday evening with a convincing whipping of 26-year-old Serb and reigning U.S. Open champ, Novak Djokovic.
The 27-year-old Spaniard proved just why he’s been 21-0 on hard courts all season with a superb, focused and exciting match that left him raising his second U.S. Open cup and collecting two checks worth a whopping total of US$3.6 million. Not bad for a day’s work!
Monday’s victory of 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the men’s final inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium.was a sprint at 3 hours 21 minutes that finished Djokovic off with a tear in his eye.
The Spaniard surged to an early lead, utilizing aggressive shot-making to earn an early break. After an hour of sluggish play, Djokovic awoke in the second set.
Djokovic broke the Spaniard twice in the second. The match turned in the third set. At 4-all, Djokovic was up triple break point at, but Nadal dug in and fought his way back to deuce, eventually saving three break points on his serve. Djokovic got it to 30-0 on his serve in the next game, but Nadal stole the match’s momentum with four straight points, the last coming with a down-the-line winner.
Nadal controlled the fourth and final set, breaking Djokovic twice to take the set 6-1, the dominating performance putting an exclamation point on his remarkable run to the title.
“Playing against Novak is a very special feeling – probably nobody brings my game to that limit like Novak did,” said Nadal, holding the trophy during his on-court victory address. Turning to his opponent, the victor said, “You are an amazing player, and you’re having an amazing career. I’m sure that [you] will finish [your] career being one of the best in the history of tennis.”
“He definitely deserved to win this match today and this trophy,” said Djokovic of Nadal. “Obviously, it’s disappointing to lose a match like this but, again, it was a huge privilege and honor to be fighting for this trophy, one of the most valuable and most important trophies in our sport.”
Nadal’s win was the 60th of his career and this US Open his 13th major title. Nadal has now won eight French Opens, two Wimbledons, two United States Opens and one Australian Open. He also holds a winning record over every one of his major rivals, Federer included.
