Rafael Nadal triumphs at the U.S. Open by holding off Novak Djokovic for a four-set win on Monday. Despite not playing the Australian Open at the beginning of 2013, Nadal will finish the season with two Grand Slam titles.
Rafael Nadal captured his second U.S. Open title by defeating Novak Djokovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Monday night. Nadal survived a wild, back-and-forth second set en route to victory after three hours and 21 minutes.
The world No. 1 found his range in set two, firing 15 winners–more than double Nadal’s total. Djokovic missed two break-point opportunities at 1-0, but he really sank his teeth into the match when he finally broke Nadal at 3-2.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdjNghcCNPU]
It hardly mattered when Djokovic donated his own serve one game later, because arguably the best returner in tennis was in rare form even by his standards. Nadal had been broken only once in the entire tournament prior to the final, but he lost his serve three times to Djokovic. All three breaks came in succession: at 2-3, 3-4, and again in the first game of the third set.
The third, however, ultimately provided some of the most tense drama of the tennis year. Nadal fought off one break point at 0-2 to stay within striking distance before getting the break back at 2-3. That set the stage for the turning point of the match–Nadal’s service game at 4-4. The second-ranked Spaniard dug out of a 0-40 hole, saving break points with a forehand winner, a netted Djokovic forehand, and an ace. Nadal promptly broke one game later to steal the set from just about out of nowhere, clinching it with a heavy forehand.
Perhaps stunned by the quick turn of events, Djokovic could not recover for the fourth. New York’s top seed watched a Nadal forehand fly past him on break point at 0-1 and from there it was all over. Nadal made only three unforced errors in set four and lost a mere three points in his last three service games. He capitalized on his first championship point at 5-1, 40-15 when a Djokovic forehand caught the tape.
It is Nadal’s second U.S. Open title and first since 2010. The former and likely soon-to-be world No. 1 now owns 13 Grand Slam titles, trailing only Roger Federer (17) and Pete Sampras (14). Djokovic, meanwhile, is now 6-6 lifetime in major finals.
last game of the match:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYvlQnJW32g]
Reblogged this on Tennis Abides.
Like I said, Rafa on 4… OMG im soooo happy!! hahaha 😉
OH MY GOD! VAMOOOOOOS! congrat to all his fans 🙂
Rafael Nadal has beaten Novak Djokovic 6 of the 7 times in their recent meetings. Rafael Nadal was unbeaten on HC in 2013 going into the US Open. Rafael Nadal had beaten Djokovic in Montreal, on a fast HC. Coming into the USOpen, it was obvious to any tennis observer that Djokovic’s money shot, the DHBH, had not been clicking for some time. To top it off, Djokovic gets taken to 5-sets by Stan Wawrinka, a player who has yet to take a set off Rafael Nadal, on any surface, in his career.
How then can anyone justify picking Novak Djokovic? It just doesn’t make sense to me.
probably because only a few of those factors are relevant.
and it leaves out plenty of info about Djoker.
Pray tell Ricky, which factors clinched it for you to pick Djokovic? You were not eh only one, mind, Tignor also picked Djokovic. I realise that predictions are just that, predictions, but Iike to see logic behind them, even if they turn out to be wrong or right.
Here’s what I think: you picked Djokovic on the basis of his 2011 performance i.e. history. You also discounted Rafa on the basis of his historical HC performance. Why didn’t you factor in the recent past and present? In my opinion, their respective performances in the recent past and present deserved a bigger weighting than the past past. After all, tennis is about “what have you done for me lately”, no?
Not saying history does not count, just saying attach a smaller weight to it relative to the present and recent past.
Okay, you say I left out plenty of info about Djokovic, am interested to know what that is. In the meantime, how about this gem from Juan Jose at changeovertennis.com (a Djokovic fan btw), musings after the final:
“it finally dawned on me what’s been happening in the past two years. It’s not really all that surprising or complicated: Novak Djokovic has plateaued. And that plateau might be turning into a downward slope at the moment. Djokovic didn’t seem to learn the key lesson from the Federer-Nadal years: that you have to keep improving all the time, particularly when you reach the top. You can’t relax in professional tennis. Or you can, but then things won’t go as well as you’d like.”
What this quote says is this: a lot of pundits and Djokovic fans have been frozen in time, refusing to move on and accept the obvious: Djokovic 2013 is not Djokovic 2011. This can be the only explanation to continually favouring him over Rafa in spite of the stats.
Ricky, such as?
In a pre-final post, I mentioned that this final was a game-changer for both Rafa and Novak. Bodo agrees. I must say, this is one of the best pieces I have ever seen from Bodo, and I have never been a fan of his:
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/09/rafael-nadal-novak-djokovic-2013-us-open-final-bodo/49118/#.Ui62iD9RCDc
“Destiny beckoned to each man in the U.S. Open final, but only one answered the call with the full commitment of his being. As Rafael Nadal rushed headlong to embrace fate, Novak Djokovic seemed to resist it. At first, the Serb couldn’t find his inspiration; later, he couldn’t sustain it. As a result, Nadal drilled his way deeper in the record books with a triumph that might stand as a career-defining moment—a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 result that resonated with significance.
This one was for the title of player of the year, ATP rankings be danged, as the men entered the tournament with one Grand Slam win apiece. Nadal stole out of the semis at Roland Garros with a 9-7 in-the-fifth win, boosting his overall record against Djokovic to 20-15, but Djokovic had a big lead on hard courts, 11-6.
This was also Nadal’s bid to bag a 13th major title, and it had the complexion of a game-changer when it comes to his legacy. At 27, Nadal is now just four major titles behind his original rival, Roger Federer. Given his undiminished prowess at Roland Garros (eight titles in nine tries). . . well, you do the math. “
At the beginning of the year, Rafa haters were hanging on for dear life to the fact that Rafa had not won a h/c title since 2010; his wins this year would dry up after the clay season as usual, they claimed. They have nowhere to go now. Rafa has spectacularly shut them all up.
Rafa haters also kept on and on about how close Nole came to winning the FO, but for netgate. This time Nole was comprehensively beaten with a hot gluten packed breadstick in the final set.
#Vamos Rafa
And people were going on and on about how Djokovic comes up with brave shots at crucial points in a match. How about that forehand by Rafa at 4/4 in the 3rd set, down 0-40 on his serve? And the ace to bring the game to deuce, his fastest serve at 125mph?
Hot gluten packed breadstick. Brilliant.
It was what we hoped for. Rafa to pull off an unequivocal win in a battle against Djokovic in a Slam on HC. Still trying to take it in 🙂
Chapeau to all those who predicted a four set triumph.
I was steeled for a five-setter decided on one or two points: in a month of Sundays I would never have dreamt Rafa could dish out a bagel to Nole in a Slam final.
Meant to say breadstick of course.
No Clayqueen, they havent. Some of you must visit the ATP facebook blogs and see for yourselves!!! Its a mine field out there!!!!
RT @andy_murray: “Rafael Nadal Perera… Legend”
Rafa is AMAZING 🙂 Commiserations to Nole fans.
Felling kinda blue, cos this time last year…..:(
It was gutsy of you to even watch. But there is a silver lining in every cloud. The Joker bubble has burst and the Federer light has dimmed. Andy’s time will come again.
Exactly Deuce, like Ed said, you dont think Andy will remain mute next season, will you?! He sure will try to spoil things for Rafa and Novak fans!!!
So looking forward to 2014……..yes already……lol!!!
clayqeeen ‘September 10, 2013 at 6:35 am ‘
‘with a hot gluten packed breadstick in the final set’
That’s got to be one of your best ones, lol !
Shame on me!!!! I went to bed after Rafa lost the 2nd set!!!!
Sooooo glad that he won it!!!
Vamos Rafa
What do you know, the ‘king of clay’ has beaten everybody he’s played this year in HC – Not a single defeat this year in HC, beating the ‘Nr. 1 (not for very long)’ player twice.
Surely, it must be a fluke.
I’m loving it!!
VAMOS RAFA!!!!!!
(commies to Djoko fans btw – that’s the beauty of sport, one day one man is up the next he’s down)
Soooooo happyyyyyyyy, and please , stop going on about whether Rafa will overtake Fed in Slams… I frankly don’t give a toss
Oh , and Deucy, no worries mate. Andy has got some Slams in him yet, that’s for sure 🙂
Well, I agree with experts picking Djokovic to win. The way he played in set 2 and most of set 3 was amazing. As rafa said, when he plays at that level, nobody can beat him.
This coming form the horse’s mouth.
I think Rafa’s fighting spirit was what willed him win to the 3rd set. Overall, Djokovic played better than Rafa in the 3rd set, yet Rafa won out of nowhere. Djokovic hit 17 winners in the 3rd set alone, rafa only 6. Djokovic had the better serving stats too. The DIFFERENCE was the timing of rafa’s 6 winners. 4 if them hit after 4-4 0:40 down. Had Djokovic won the 3rd set, he would have most probably won the match.
4th set was just a formality. The inexplicable loss in the 3rd set broke Djokovic’s will. Rafa gained a lot of confidence and starting hitting back FEARHANDS, big serves in the 4th. Then he was unstoppable
atul, you should be on the Nole fan site.
Except it’s a best of 3 out of 5. Which means, to win, Djokovic needed to sustain that “unbeatable” level for 5 sets. He did not, he could not…….that’s why he lost. Experts are supposed to base their picks on the probability of winning, not sporadic patches of brilliance. There are no prizes for brilliance, only for winning.
I absolutely agree with Rafa’s sentiments, that is why 2011 was Djokovic’s year. In 2011 he could sustain that brilliance over 5 sets, of late he can’t.
It was okay to pick Nole, since their last two matches were incredibly close, and there was still Novak’s edge over Rafa on hard court. Before the match I couldn’t make up my mind. My heart told me, Rafa should win, my brain told me, he could win, but my gut told me, Nole might pull a Houdini again. Even if 2011 is history, it’s still lodged in our minds. Instead of Nole, it was Rafa, who pulled the Houdini in the third set. Like at the FO, Rafa out-houdinied Nole, which is a surprising development in their ongoing rivalry. I disagree by the way with the notion, that Rafa would’ve lost the match, should he have lost the third set. He certainly would not have given up, and would’ve fought teeth and nails for the trophy. Rafa knows from bitter experience, that the tide can turn quickly because of injury or the rise of old and new opponents, and he has to grab the opportunities, when they present themselves.
@littlefoot, if you had followed my posts before the final you would have seen that I was like you, I could not decisively call the match either way for the exact reason you put forward, that the win/loss margins between the 2 are very small, with their recent close matches as evidence. It is one thing to seat on the fence (like you and I did) it is quite another to decisively pick Novak (or Rafa for the matter) don’t you think?
My opinion, a lot of factors go into making a pick: history on the surface, whether past encounters are blowouts or decided on margins etc. but the most important factor, which should carry the higher weight, is WHO has won most of those marginal encounters and how recent were those wins? Taking all this into account, I had a hard time justifying a Novak pick. Because Rafa beat Novak as recently as Montreal, because Novak was having a hard time winning on his favorite surface (IW, Montreal, Cincinnati), I would have given the picks to Rafa by a nose.
Look, this is an academic discussion, which I find interesting btw! If Novak had won, I wouldn’t be nit picking like I am now!
Cheers.
If you watch the FO Semi it’s clear that it was not incredibly close. Rafa was the front runner and even served for the match in the 4th set. He got broken in the first game of the 5th, probably because he was smarting from not closing the match when he served for it. He came close to breaking Nole again before netgate and then broke Nole to love to win the match.
As for netgate, if Nole hadn’t stupidly argued that he should have been given the point no one would have given it another thought. He had to run at break neck speed to make the shot that’s why he ran into the net. He could not have made that shot without touching the net.
clayqueen@September 10, 2013 at 6:35 am
—At the beginning of the year, Rafa haters were hanging….They have nowhere to go now. Rafa has spectacularly shut them all up—
Rafa’s racket has done the talking.
Vamos tennis virtuoso Rafa!
Augusta, carrying you numbers theme:
Rafa won his 60th match this year to win his 60th career title.
Nice!!!!
Clayqueen – Thanks for your concern, but I dont need your advice as to which site I should be in.
correct. we need other fanbases here to foster discussion.
atul,
Just ignore it. You have every right to be here. I want some diversity of opinion here, otherwise it’s just a fan site. We need different points of view. I have no problem with anyone trying to make their case as long as they are reasonable and don’t personally attack anyone.
I respect your opinion, even if I may not agree with it.
Thanks NNY, appreciate it!
RITB, agree.
However, I am trying to reason that experts prediction were not totally misplaced given the way the match played out. Could have very easily gone either way.
This victory was authored in Rafa’s defeat at Oz 2012. I wish TT was still on and I could delve through its archives for a conversation I, luckystar and nadline had after that defeat by Djokovic. Rafa came out and said he had turned a corner in that defeat, that although he lost to Djokovic in that close 5 setter, he now knew what he had to do to beat him, and that he was happy with his play. A lot of people took this as his way of coping with a painful defeat. Nadline and I agreed with his assessment, that it was a good defeat. Luckystar disagreed. She had a hard time seeing the positives from that defeat. We had a good and spirited argument on the matter. I wish luckystar was around, I would love to hear if she still held that view.
In his post US Open 2013 win Rafa repeated what he said post that Oz Open defeat: that Australia 2012 is where he figured out what he needed to do to beat Novak. And so it came to pass, he has only lost 1 match to Novak since Oz 2012.
I am relating this because there is a narrative out there, driven by some Fedfans, that Rafa is deceitful, that he is not honest in his pressers. It is a pity that hate can blind you to the obvious: if you care to listen, Rafa always tells the truth, and there is a lot one can glean from his pressers.
Absolutely agree with you, RITB. I kept saying 2012, that Nole had NOT crushed Rafa’s spirit at the OZ final. I said, he struck the fear of all tennis deities into Nole. He sent the message: “I’m not planning to go anywhere, and this is, what it takes to beat me”. If you look back, Nole has never been quite the same since. This fact was just obscured a bit by Rafa’s lengthy injury timeout.
ritb,
I was part of that conversation. I was one who believed that out of the ashes of that painful defeat, Rafa found the answer to how to beat Djoker. It’s true that some thought he was trying to rationalize his seventh defeat, but I knew that was not the case. He came back from being down two sets to one and evened it up in the fourth set. Then he was actually up a break in that fifth set, two games from victory. He missed a dtl backhand shot that would have given him game point on his serve. He lost his serve and then Djoker held on for the win.
Then we saw Rafa beat Djoker at MC, Rome and RG. He had turned the corner and has never looked back.
Thanks, @nny, glad you remembered! I guess the reason I “forgot” you were part of that conversation is because you, unlike some of us, state your case in a quiet, but effective, manner!
OMG, is it quiet over on THAT blog? Rafa sure knows how to shut the hater trolls up! Am loving it…….
@Ed and Shireling
Thanks…..through my tears….
@clayqueen
We need more fans of different players on here.Difference of opinion is good when it is expressed in a civilised manner,
Where are you Andy Murray fans?
Totally agree @deucy. I wish all the ex-TT Nole, Fed and Muzza fans would come over. For the same reason, I hope Fed regains his mojo quickly so that we have balance in the top 4!
yep
deucy,
Here, here! That is what I miss here right now. I want fans of other players here. We had that on TT. It’s important to have a lively discussion with people contributing different points of view. I just don’t want to have the nasty personal attacks from the trolls who plagued TT.
I bet every tennis coach will make their charges watch that match over and over to learn how to turn a match round when all seems lost.
Nobody can do it like Rafa does it. Djokovic was on his way to a win but came up short in the critical moments.
IMO his fatal mistake was the OTT celebration when he won the 57 stroke rally. He carried on as if he’d won the tournament and that got up Rafa’s nose.
He should know by now a wounded bull is much more dangerous.
ed,
Reading Rafa’s presser last night, he was asked about that 54 shot rally. He just knew that it was one point and he had to move on to the next one. When you read Rafa’s words and see how he approaches playing in slam finals, then you realize why he has been so successful. He can move on after a point doesn’t go his way. He knows that there is more work to be done.
I don’t think Djoker celebrating bothered Rafa. He seems to be so focused on what he has to do. Besides, Djoker always does this in matches. He did it after he won the second set. Rafa just was not going to lose that match.
players on Twitter – https://tenngrand.com/2013/09/10/players-react-on-twitter-to-the-nadal-vs-djokovic-u-s-open-final/
@rafaisthebest 10.32, I completely agree with you. Most recent statistics were in Rafa’s favour. I was just making the point, that it wasn’t totally outlandish to pick Nole. I guess, Ricky likes to make strong statements, beause it sparks discussios, lol! And isn’t it great, that we are today in the position to nitpick with him, btw? :)) Do you agree with me, that it would NOT necessarily been over, if Rafa had lost the third?
We “know” each other btw. I post as “oldfanoftheblog” at QR’s site, but that moniker would not have been appropriate here. Looking forward to more great discussions. 🙂
Welcome, @OFOTB! It is so nice to have this cross-pollination! I always enjoy your contribution on QR’s site, and I know my fellow Rafans on Tenngrand will enjoy you as much as I do.
I will be honest, I stayed up to watch the match and bailed out after the first game…..I am a coward! Because of the way recent encounters have gone, I fully expected a 5-setter and I did not have to stomach for it. I woke up in the middle of the night to check the scores, only then did I have the nerve to watch the match recording!
My watching a recording, fully knowing the result, coloured my take on the match, I think. A lot of analysts said Rafa was “lost in the 2nd set and 1st half of the 3rd set. That is not what I saw. I saw a Rafa who was being bullied around in the 2nd set but who NEVER GAVE UP. Instead, I saw a Novak who became complacent in the 3rd set, Rafa capitalised and the rest is history. I agree with ed2537, that 57-stroke rally gave Novak false comfort. He thought he had Rafa on the backfoot, relaxed his intensity and boom!
Thanks for the welcome. I enjoy your contributions, too 🙂 .
I staid up, because I had work to do, but I bailed out, too, lol! Ihave a hell of respect for the Djoker, and 2011 was a bit traumatizing for rafafans. When I had the courage to take a peak at the score, Rafa was down 0/2 in the third, having lost the second. Not exactly, what I needed to see. Yet, strangely, I felt confident, that he might still be able to win in four. His matches against Nole this year have shown, that an early break meant not much, when those two were going at each other.Still, I was very nervous, when I checked google news, which featured the headline “Djokovic wins -insert punch in the stomach here- against Wawrinka and makes the final”, lol! Well, it was night time in Germany, and they were lagging a bit behind. But that made the good news eben better! So far I’ve seen only a few clips. Will enjoy the complete match at leasure tonight.
Have you watched the post match interviews? Goodness knows how players (particularly after a final) have the patience to cope with the same old questions over and over again
Lovely moment when a woman put a question to Rafa about what changes he had made to his HC game and he gently said as he always does when this happens: ‘I’ve already answered that question’.
Djokovic was understandably very subdued but frank with his answers. The only response I questioned was when he said ‘I played well throughout this tournament’.
Really? ?
I dont know about other people but, leaving aside the stunning end result, on the whole I was disappointed in the quality of this final. Apart from a few fierce rallies, It did not live up to the hype. Same applied to several highly anticipated matches in earlier rounds.
Ricky, where is the congratulations to Rafa for winning the USO in your logo? Why did Andy get one but not Rafa?
Hahaha! Don’t let him off the hook, @clayqueen!
I think a great number of Rafa fans hid behind the sofa in the 2nd and 3rd sets!!! I switched the channel and went off to feed the dogs!!! The tension was just killing me and I was just thinking, my God Rafa, not AO12 all over again……….lol!!!