Top-ranked Spaniard Rafael Nadal won his third US Open title as he steamrolled South African Kevin Anderson in a one-sided final on Sunday at Flushing Meadows.
Nadal, who was an overwhelming favourite to add to his 15 Grand Slam titles, did so with consummate ease when he defeated his 31-year-old opponent 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to win another major trophy.
And as a result of that win, Nadal joined Roger Federer in winning two majors in the year, after having won his 10th title at the French Open earlier this year. Federer scooped away the Australian Open and the Wimbledon.
Interestingly, it was Nadal’s first hard-court title win since he won the Doha Open in 2014.
Nadal’s win at this US Open, was obviously made easier by the withdrawal of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka but not even that can take away from the fact that both he, and Federer had almost been written off by some to add to their Grand Slam title count.
Vamossssssss thanks and celebration time #usopen 17 pic.twitter.com/O0k0lhHtvT
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) September 11, 2017
On the other hand, Anderson said he did not feel any nerves and it was just about facing up to an opponent who was in terrific form.
The South African said to the media:
“I think the nerves that I was maybe going to feel, you know, I felt pretty good out there. I thought I was hitting the ball very well. It was more the conundrum of playing Rafa as opposed to being in my first final.”
And with just 11 unforced errors, 16-0 on points won at the net to points lost and having not faced a single break-point in the entire match, it was very evident the pre-match predictions had never been more accurate.
As opposed to that, Anderson, who relies a lot on serve, was broken four times in the match, which the South African admitted was the problem.
Hoisting a Grand Slam trophy for the 16th time…
????????????????@RafaelNadal #USOpen pic.twitter.com/UAvcsP7MAG
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 10, 2017
With the last leg of the year now set to begin as the players look to wrap up the season with a couple of Masters tournaments and the World Tour Finals in London, the interest in how 2018 will pan out has already begun to peak.
For one, the pair of Nadal and Federer are playing some of the best tennis of their careers and if they can remain fit and with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray returning to their peak fitness as well, fans could be treated to some classy tennis too.
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