Originally published on Tennis-Update.com
If this was Mother Nature’s way of showing karma, I’m sure Rafael Nadal is thinking now it was all worth the wait. After two straight years of falling short in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows, he finally had the opportunity to play for his first US Open, and, a career golden slam, after rain yesterday delayed the final. And today was no exception to weather-related problems, as there would be yet another two hour delay for the players to cope with.
THE FINAL: NADAL VS. DJOKOVIC
He and surprise finalist Novak Djokovic, who took out Roger Federer in a five set thriller (in perhaps the best ATP match on Tour this season) in the semifinals, gave fans an impressive performance. Contrary to the women’s final where Kim Clijsters thrashed Vera Zvonavera in just an hour, this match had all the billing for a great final. You had Nadal gunning for the record books, and Djokovic aiming to become a two-slam winner while also trying to become the first player to beat both Nadal and Federer in the same major.
The Match
Nadal and Djokovic each exuded confidence and the quality of tennis maintained a high level throughout the grinding battle. Nadal took the first set 6-4 and after three holds to start the second, Djokovic managed to break Nadal to go up 3-1. He wasn’t able to hold his advantage long, as Nadal converted a break of serve three games later to put the set back on serve. After consolidating to get to 4-4, rain had other ideas and halted the match at 30-30 on Djokovic’s serve.
When play resumed, Djokovic began to settle in and hit his stride beautifully. Up 6-5, he unloaded on the backhand side, producing two extraordinary winners down the line to setup a break point. A deep return forced a Nadal backhand in the net, and the match was now even at one set a piece.
The rest of the match saw Nadal rise to the occasion, as his unforced errors dropped and winning percentage on first serve began to increase. He started executing his game plan of wearing Djokovic down by getting involved in longer rallies, and it worked brilliantly. Nadal showed no signs of slowing down and hit some unimaginable shots off his back foot – much to the dismay of Djokovic.
Nadal’s fire and momentum carried into the fourth set and the crowd could feel the sway of emotion on Nadal’s side. Djokovic fought as hard as he could and played well, but Nadal continued to execute and was soon up 5-2 with a chance to serve for the title. It did not come easy and his nerves showed at 30-15, as he pushed an open forehand wide. But the matador spirit he’s always carried with him was still alive and strong – a thrilling point at 30-30, which saw Nadal run down a drop shot to carve a forehand winner just nicking the baseline setting up match point – and it was all over from there. After a brief rally, Djokovic’s shot sailed wide and Rafa entered the record books as the seventh man ever to win a career grand slam.
Implications Of Nadal’s Victory
Rafa’s victory definitely marks him as a top five player of all-time. Some are even calling him the GOAT (greatest of all time) – just ask Brad Gilbert! While Roger Federer has 16 majors, Nadal’s achievements are just as impressive…or even more.
Federer completed his career slam last year at the age of 27. Rafa is just 24 years old and has something Federer doesn’t – a gold medal in singles, putting him in elite company with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf as the only singles players to own a career golden slam (Graf famously won the calendar year golden slam in 1988). Additionally, if you take into account the players Federer and Nadal beat to win their first major at each individual event, Nadal’s results hold a lot more weight, as two of his first-slam victories came against Federer.
His win against Djokovic is notable as well, as the Serbian held a 7-3 edge against Nadal on hard-courts coming into this US Open final. Adding to his impressive resume, Nadal also has a Davis Cup title, which Federer is yet to win with his Swiss team, and, he is the first player since Rod “the Rocket” Laver in 1969 to win three consecutive grand slams. The only title really eluding him now is the Masters Cup. If he manages to win that, the talk about Federer being the greatest of all time will be questioned even more.
I’m not advocating to diminish Federer’s accomplishments, as he has had a truly remarkable career – but Nadal’s record against Federer overall (14-7) and in majors (5-2 with wins on three surfaces) speak for themselves. If Rafa and his body can hold up for another 4-5 years, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if he edges past Pistol Pete’s number of grand slam titles and zeroes in on Federer’s total when he’s 29…
BRYANS WIN THIRD US OPEN
What a summer for the world’s number one doubles team, Bob and Mike Bryan. First, they broke the record for most team titles at 62 at a virtual home event in Los Angeles (they are from Camarillo, CA). If that wasn’t enough, they earned back to back victories at the two summer Masters Series events in Toronto and Cincinnati, and, played their band’s biggest gig at Arthur Ashe Kids Day in front of thousands of people!
Their run to the US Open title couldn’t have been more inspiring – they did not drop a set the entire way and until the final against Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, the closest they were pushed in a set was 7-5 (against Fish/Knowles and Fyrstenberg/Matkowski respectively).
It was an exciting matchup, as Bopanna/Qureshi had a thrilling run to advance to their first grand slam final – they took out the number two seeds and Bryans main rival Nestor/Zimonjic in the third round, and then followed that win with a straight sets victory over big-serving Moodie/Norman.
Their partnership has been a way to bridge the gap between the two player’s respective countries of India and Pakistan – and both nations cheered heavily for the “Indo-Pak Express” to take home their first major title. But across the net were eight-time grand slam champions, the Bryans and they carried a lot more experience in high pressure situations.
Bopanna/Qureshi had the confidence to attack and impose themselves, as they beat the Bryans in Washington DC to hand the twins their only loss of the summer. It was a neck and neck battle all the way to the conclusion of the match, and Bopanna/Qureshi had their chances to make it a three set battle, but Bob and Mike Bryan silenced the limited opportunities they had to get ahead and played the bigger points better to earn their ninth major title together, putting them two behind 2010 Hall of Fame Inductees Tood Woodbrige and Mark Woodforde. It was an extra special week for Bob Bryan, as he had earlier won the mixed doubles title with WTA doubles number one Liezel Huber.
The Bryans triumph in New York will make it extremely tough for Nestor/Zimonjic to regain the number one ranking, so it looks like it will be an enjoyable fall for the twins. And despite the singles woes for Americans at the majors, the Bryans have been a rock in providing US tennis fans a consistent powerhouse on the circuit – even if it doesn’t hold the same prestige as singles, the Bryans should be commended for giving US fans someone to cheer for in the latter stages of the grand slams.
Congratulations to the Bryans on their wonderful success and to Nadal in joining elite company. I can't wait to see how the fall season goes, as the race for the year-end championships should start heating up very soon!
-Matt Fitzgerald
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