Rafael Nadal (photo ©Sylvain WEBER) reached the final defeating Ryan Harrison, Rogerio Dutra Silva, Ivan Dodig, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Richard Gasquet and Tommy Robredo. So far he has lost only one set in the fourth round to Kohlschreiber. It can be said that it’s his third consecutive final at the U.S. Open because last year he didn’t play in this tournament. He won the 2010 final.
Novak Djokovic reached the final defeating Ricardas Berankis, Benjamin Becker, Joao Sousa, Marcel Granollers, Mikhail Youzhny and Stanislas Wawrinka. So far he has lost a total of three sets: one in the quarter-final to Youzhny and two in the semifinals to Wawrinka. It’s his the fourth consecutive final at the U.S. Open and he won it in 2011.
At the beginning of the match Rafael Nadal seems to have something more and in the third game breaks Novak Djokovic. The Serb tries to react but the Spaniard is more accurate and creates with a good variety of shots creates many problems for his opponent. Djokovic tries even more and in the fourth game Nadal is 0-30 but manages to win his service game, in the seventh game breaks his opponent again then closes the set in the next game 6-2.
In the second set Novak Djokovic reduces his errors and his level rises considerably. In the second game the Serb has two break points but Rafael Nadal manages to win his service game. In the sixth game Djokovic shows why he’s still no. 1 in the world ranking with extraordinary plays and breaks the Spaniard winning the last point at the end of an incredible rally lasted 54 shots. The effort is huge and in the next game Nadal breaks him back but he resumes playing fantastic tennis and immediately breaks the Spaniard again. In the ninth game Djokovic serves for the second set, winning it 6-3.
In the third set Novak Djokovic continues to play at an incredible level and in the first game he breaks Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard is now struggling because it seems that the Serb have found countermeasures to all of his shots and in the third game offers another break point but manages to win his service game. Nadal keeps on fighting as only a great champion like him can and in the sixth game manages to break Djokovic to tie the score on 3-3. The Serb has a small decline and perhaps missed the chance to close the set but he tries again. In the ninth game Djokovic has three break but Nadal manages to win his service game. It’s the turning point because in the next game he breaks the Serbi to win the set 6-4.
In the fourth set Novak Djokovic tries to regain control of the situation quickly after losing too many chances and in the first game has two break points but Rafael Nadal manages to win his service game. It is the last train for the Serb because the Spaniard now contains his opponent’s aggressiveness hits back every shot. In the second game the Spaniard breaks the Serbs, who now must try to be aggressive again. At this point, however, Nadal seems to have something extra that he makes the most of breaking Djokovic again in the sixth game then serves for the match closing the set 6-1 winning the match and his second U.S. Open title.
We’ve been long used to very hard and intense matches between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic but this one was often fantastic also from the technical point of view. The two players have tried to do something more than their opponent to win the points and in many cases have offered a show of the highest level with great emotions.
Novak Djokovic has tried in every way to win the title of the U.S. Open again and at certain times of the match was dominant but overall he made too many mistakes. He finished with 46 winners against the 27 made by Nadal but also with 53 unforced errors compared to the 20 by the Spaniard. He remain the no. 1 in the world rankings but his problem is that his lead over Nadal is now reduced and it’s only a matter of time before he loses the throne. Obviously he’ll still try to win this tournament and all the other major tournaments he’s going to play because he remains a great player.
Rafael Nadal got us used to his incredible feats and this year he’s adding other ones. He was forced to start late in the season and had to stop again after Wimbledon because of his physical problems but when he managed to be in good conditions he’s been almost invincible. In recent years, his problem was that he arrived tired at this point of the season tired for the many tournaments played, this year he could finally try to win the ATP finals at the end of the season. Not having to defend any points in the ranking, he’ll be almost certainly back to being the no. 1 in the world rankings by the end of the year.
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