Rafael Nadal beats Novak Djokovic to win U.S. Open (His 13th Major Tennis Grand Slam)

CTV News ^ | 09/09/2013

[SeekAndFind]

No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal won his 13th Grand Slam title by edging No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a riveting U.S. Open final filled with lengthy points and fantastic shotmaking.

Nadal's victory Monday gave him a second championship at Flushing Meadows, and came a year after he missed the tournament with a knee injury.

[SeekAndFind]

An argument can be made to say that Nadal is the greater tennis player than Roger Federer.

Even at Federer's peak Nadal was one player he could not beat.

[SeekAndFind]

Nadal's record

Finals: 18 (13 titles, 5 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	2005	French Open (1)	Clay	Mariano Puerta	6–7(6–8), 6–3, 6–1, 7–5
Winner	2006	French Open (2)	Clay	Roger Federer	1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Runner-up	2006	Wimbledon (1)	Grass	Roger Federer	0–6, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–2), 3–6
Winner	2007	French Open (3)	Clay	Roger Federer	6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	2007	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Roger Federer	6–7(7–9), 6–4, 6–7(3–7), 6–2, 2–6
Winner	2008	French Open (4)	Clay	Roger Federer	6–1, 6–3, 6–0
Winner	2008	Wimbledon (1)	Grass	Roger Federer	6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(8–10), 9–7
Winner	2009	Australian Open (1)	Hard	Roger Federer	7–5, 3–6, 7–6(7–3), 3–6, 6–2
Winner	2010	French Open (5)	Clay	Robin Söderling	6–4, 6–2, 6–4
Winner	2010	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Tomáš Berdych	6–3, 7–5, 6–4
Winner	2010	US Open (1)	Hard	Novak Djokovic	6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2
Winner	2011	French Open (6)	Clay	Roger Federer	7–5, 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 6–1
Runner-up	2011	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Novak Djokovic	4–6, 1–6, 6–1, 3–6
Runner-up	2011	US Open (1)	Hard	Novak Djokovic	2–6, 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 1–6
Runner-up	2012	Australian Open (1)	Hard	Novak Djokovic	7–5, 4–6, 2–6, 7–6(7–5), 5–7
Winner	2012	French Open (7)	Clay	Novak Djokovic	6–4, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5
Winner	2013	French Open (8)	Clay	David Ferrer	6–3, 6–2, 6–3
Winner	2013	US Open (2)	Hard	Novak Djokovic	6–2, 3–6, 6–4, 6–1

[rktman]

Oooppppssss! At a quick glance I was wondering why the heck Ralph Nadar was playing tennins. LOL!

[heylady]

Hope with the money Raffa gets he can finally buy underwear that fits.

[freedumb2003]

There are no compelling personalities in Tennis anymore (and there haven’t been for years).

Thus no one cares.

[SeekAndFind]

Hope with the money Raffa gets he can finally buy underwear that fits.

How could you tell?

[SeekAndFind]

RE: There are no compelling personalities in Tennis anymore (and there haven’t been for years).

Compelling like who for instance?

This bunch is probably the best we’ve been fortunate to see in a while — Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray.

[heylady]

I care. Unfortunately I do notice an awful lot of empty seats in the stands during the early rounds even when top seeds are playing.

[heylady]

Do you watch him play? Before every serve he does a little routine where he adjusts his shirt and then picks a wedgie

[Toespi]

Everytime these four walk on the court, it’s a toss up as to who will win. Nadal and djokovich put on quite a show today, no way anyone could be bored.

[JimSEA]

Obsessive / compulsive I’d say. I still like him, many quirks and all.

[antonico]

I can understand trying to make the argument that Nadal somehow is better than Federer. But when you look at their achievements - not their rivalry - what’s clear is Federer has a career Nadal will never ever duplicate. Federer has been in the Championship match of EVERY Major AT LEAST 5 TIMES EACH!! Federer was World #1 for 237 uninterrupted weeks, and 302 weeks overall. Federer reached an astounding 23 consecutive Semi Finals at Grand Slam Events. And, in 3 different seasons, he’s won 3 of the 4 Majors in a calendar year (and losing in the Final of the 4th one twice). It’s a brand of dominance that had never been seen before. These are things Nadal will never accomplish in his career.

That said, Nadal will carve out his own unique achievements. He’s the only man in the Open Era to have won any given Major Championship 8 times, and added too that - he’s won two OTHER tour events that many times also. All on clay, and his dominance there is something the sport has not ever seen. He’s gotten the better of Federer mostly because in Federer’s prime Nadal was only able to reach Finals on clay or grass. He’s better on hard courts now, but Federer has tailed off where he was due to age. The fact is Nadal’s career - when stacked against Federer’s career - will always fall short.

[heylady]

Even great players in the second tier, Stan Wawrinka, (my favorite), David Ferrer, Jo Wilfred Tsonga, and Juan Martin Del Potro. Stan came so close to taking out Novak.

I am giving serious consideration to going to Australia for next years open.

[topspinr]

My favorite also. Federer will relinquish the top spot in his country to Warwinka as he should.

Believe he has more fire in the belly, and that’s what is missing in Roger and Novak.

[freedumb2003]

>>Compelling like who for instance?<<

Connors, Borg, Ashe, Nastase, Mcenroe, Graf, Navratilova, LLoyd.

All were interesting and compelling.

Nowadays, the players are bland.