Rafael Nadal wins the Western & Southern Open for the first time in his career and completes the improbable Montreal-Cincinnati double with a victory over John Isner on Sunday. With the win, Nadal will be seeded second at the U.S. Open.
Rafael Nadal’s remarkable, resurgent 2013 campaign keeps getting better and better.
Nadal captured his ninth title of the season and first of his career in Cincinnati with a 7-6(8), 7-6(3) win over John Isner in the final of the Western & Southern Open on Sunday afternoon. The Spaniard fired six aces and saved all three of the break points he faced to prevail in one hour and 54 minutes.
Isner, as he often does, had delivered a flair for the dramatic during his surprising run to the championship match. The 6’10” American had won four of five tiebreakers this week while upsetting Novak Djokovic 7-5 in the third set and saving a match point in the second set against Juan Martin Del Potro. In this one, however, Isner did not have quite enough at the crucial moments.
Nadal faced two set points at 5-6 in the opener, but he fought them off with clutch serving. The No. 4 seed saved another in the tiebreaker before finally sealing the deal on serve at 9-8 when Isner netted a backhand. Nadal ultimately got the job done without earning a single break point against his opponent’s huge serve. The second ‘breaker, though, was more straightforward. Nadal raced to a 5-1 lead an ultimately converted championship point with a perfect forehand passing shot.
“It means a lot winning two straight titles on hard (courts),” assured Nadal, who also triumphed last week at the Montreal Masters. “It’s just amazing for me. I never did something like this in my career.”
“I played extremely well all week,” Isner reflected. “I played well again today. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t good enough. Unfortunately for me, I ran up against one of the greatest tennis players of all time. As I said on the court, i’m going to hold my head up high after today’s match and after this whole week. But Rafa was better than me today.”
Nadal will move up to No. 2 in the world on Monday and be seeded second for the U.S. Open. He will also win the U.S. Open Series unless Isner reaches at least the semifinals next week in Winston-Salem. Isner’s Cincinnati run earns him a Top 16 in New York.
highlights:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0yQ8ZN6tbs]
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