Seven years ago, the U.S. Open was the final piece of the puzzle that Rafael Nadal needed to complete the career Grand Slam. Some wondered if he would ever do it. Once at most, right? Maybe two if lucky?
How about three?
Nadal triumphed in New York for the third time on Sunday, lifting the trophy once again thanks to a commanding 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kevin Anderson. The Spaniard did not face a single break point while rolling to his 16th slam title in two hours and 27 minutes. Nadal used unusually effective and deep returns to break Anderson four times and he almost kept up with the 6’8” South African in the department of winners (32 to 30 in Anderson’s favor). The top seed also committed a mere 11 unforced errors, whereas 40 mistakes came off the world No. 32’s racket.
Highlights:
“(It has) been a great two weeks,” Nadal reflected, “increasing (my) level of tennis, increasing [in] confidence during that two weeks. I have this trophy with me again here in New York; means a lot to me. There is no better way to finish the Grand Slam season for me after a very emotional season in all aspects.
“(I’m) very happy the way that I played–happy the way that I managed the pressure and the way that I was competing during the whole event.”
Nadal’s only real trouble throughout the duration of the fortnight came in the form of slow starts in week one–most notably against Taro Daniel and Leonardo Mayer. He also surrendered the first set to Juan Martin Del Potro in the semifinals, although that was less surprising.
But there was no such struggle in the championship match. Nadal stormed out of the gates in blistering fashion, pushing Anderson to deuce in all five of his first-set return games while managing to break at 3-3 and 5-3. A break at 3-2 in the second and another one to begin the third were easily enough for Nadal to soar across the finish line.
“I think I played the right match,” the champion explained. “I put a lot of balls in. I let him play all the time, and that was my goal–to try to have long rallies, to try to have long points, because he will try to play short (ones). If the ball is going over the net couple of times helps, because he gets more tired. He’s taller. His movements are a little bit worse than my ones. That was the goal for me, to take advantage and try to move him.”
If Nadal had an edge in movement, he enjoyed an ever more significant advantage in experience. It was his 23rd major final, whereas Anderson was competing in his first. The underdog had previously advanced to just one Grand Slam quarterfinal.
“Obviously (I’m) very pleased of making my way through to the finals and having that experience,” Anderson commented. “(Only) a few players get that chance. It’s very tough. To step out on court against Rafa, I learned a lot of lessons. It was a difficult match, up against somebody who has been on that stage over 20 times before.”
From the looks of things, make that 23 times and counting.
Toni shouldnt have bloody said anything, Rafa needs support not critisism, agree Moyas interview was good though ….
Interestingly Rafa has won more USO than any other player this era 😉
haha, so you’re not counting Federer in ‘this era’, Alison? But yes, it is amazing that he has won more USO titles than Djokovic!
Vamosrafa shouldve said this decade 🙂
Djokovic is a slow hard court expert. That’s why he kept winning AO when courts were slow. Maybe, if USO speed remains the same next year, Novak could have a decent chance.
I think he will make a difference to the tour when he is back.
Hey guys!…An interesting article to read!…much more so to VR & Lucky i think who are known as our own tactical analysts on this forum..
http://www.skysports.com/tennis/news/32833/11032267/rafael-nadal-looks-like-he-will-surpass-roger-federer-in-the-grand-slam-stakes
Thanks MA!! will read it.
Btw, has anyone heard from NNY?
You’re welcome VR!!…And no..i still haven’t heard anything from Nny…Hope she is fine & unhurt with her family…
I think we can agree that this year’s USO was an interesting tournament, but certainly not a classic. You never knew what would happen next!
I guess I’m ready for the Return of the (former) Big Four (or Five). Do I really want excellence back? Well, maybe after the AO? Would LOVE to see Rafa get that one, even if he ends up playing Mischa Zverev in the final! I expect there will be a slew of upsets there, too, with the rankings all over the place.
exactly
interesting, yes. memorable (except for Nadal fans), no!
True, the AI were great, the rest of the slams not so much. The absolute low point was the Wimby final. But the overarching narrative if Fedal’s resurgence is compelling.
That should read: the AO were great…
As to Uncle Toni’s remarks: he is Uncle Toni to the hilt and emphasising the negative instead of the positive, as he has always done throughout Rafa’s career. You could see how much he cared by his reaction when Rafa squandered the first match point, lol!. But for Rafa it’s good, that someone in the team is now seeing the glas half full instead of half empty 😉
Yes and he shouting at rafa to calm down when he himself was hyper. Carlos moya had to tell him to relax and pat his back…lol.
I enjoyed the FO the most- Rafa’s unbelievable dominance;Stan vs Murray five sets epic; Thiem taking down last year’s champion Djoko; AZverev’s surprising R1 loss to Verdasco; Murray vs Delpo’s brilliant match (by Murray); Cilic getting to QF surprisingly; and Stan moving quietly through the draw almost unnoticed but then that epic SF!
In fact I enjoyed that SF between Stan and Murray the most, especially Murray’s guile and craftiness, to extend the match to five sets with a chance of winning. Of course Rafa’s aggression and total dominance over Stan from start to finish in the final was really something to behold!
Yes, there were some good matches at RG, but the eventual winner was never in doubt. The final itself wasn’t thrilling, but it was high quality tennis from Rafa against the second best player of the tournament. Rafa played high quality tennis at the US Open final, too. But the opponent was of course not comparable to Wawa.
As I said, the Wimby final was truly the low point of the slam season, although highly meaningful for Fed’s overall legacy.
I should add that it wasn’t Fed’s fault of course that Cilic wasn’t up to it in the final. Winning another Wimby trophy after 5 years was huge.
Rafas best at uso was semis set 2 3 and 4. Total domination. I really wish Fed was there. He surely saw it coming and said it as much in presser. He openly said Rafa is now playing well within himself and he knew rafa was fresh and not exhausted like in AO final after the marathon with dimitrov
Sanju SEPTEMBER 12, 2017 AT 6:40 PM
I am extremely pissed toni nadals statement here in the article. Seriously toni you need to shut your freaking mouth. I don’t remember severin luthi or ljubicic saying federers 8th wimby this year is not great as he did not have to beat rafa or Djokovic or Andy and got berdych and cilic instead. Too much of trying to keep Rafa grounded is not needed as he is 31 now and not a kid.
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I couldn’t agree with you more. I often defend Toni as he’s done great by Rafa, but he carries the responsibility for Rafa not believing in himself, despite all he’s achieved.
Yes, while I don’t find it so jarring in this recent case (he has a point after all), this is one of my main gripes with UT, too. His merits are immense, but he has some serious shortcomings as well. Not having established a robust self esteem in Rafa is probably his most glaring mistake.
Half of Toni’s words get lost in translation. Who knows what he said and what has been reported.
stil, even if some of what he meant to say gets lost in translation, over the years a very consistent picture emerged. He has a very clear picture of himself and his philosophy which he has repeated often. I think he even conceded that it might’ve been a mistake not to have instilled more self-confidence in Rafa.
He just needs to stop giving too many interviews. He actually gives more interviews than Rafa and is always saying something or the other. If you want to say something to Rafa say it to him in private , why publically say his 16th slam is like any other and he did not need to beat any top player. What if a top player is in a match but just doesn’t perform like Stan at the title French match. One plays who one gets in front of him and the way Rafa was balling qtrs onwards and seeing the ball and crushing winners and simply bouncing in court like a bunny rabbit, no one would have beaten him. He was just excellent all French and last 3 matches of uso.
Yes, Sanju, Rafa was as good as Rafa gets at the French and post-4th round US Open, in my opinion. Practically unplayable. I don’t care who was on the other side of the net- the amazing part was what was on Rafa’s side of the net. 🙂
Sanju says AT 5:31 PM: “He just needs to stop giving too many interviews.”
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His haters needs to stop trashing him! Fedfans are hating U.Toni since Rafa started to beat their beloved one. Unfortunaltely, some people who call themselves ‘Rafa fans’ have tended to sit in the haters’ boat.
I never thought this day would come, Augusta, but I think I actually agree with something you said! I wouldn’t word it quite as divisively as you lol, but I do think that people are taking Toni’s words out of context. Or perhaps the interviewers are printing his words out of context. Either way, I don’t believe for a second that Toni would ever knowingly diss his Nephew. In my opinion, I think that he was probably simply pointing out the fact that Rafa just happened to not have to face any current top players, and the publication maybe misquoted him, or took his quote out of context, as saying that Rafa’s title somehow isn’t meaningful because he only faced one former top player.
Toni surely knows the truth- that Rafa beat the guys who the other favorites either couldn’t beat, or couldn’t even make it far enough to face! That’s how a single-elimination tourny works, especially in tennis. It’s all about about match-ups, and Rafa played better against Anderson, Del Po, and the others than anyone else did. He ended up the best player in the US Open 2017 men’s singles tournament.
Haven’t seen the interview. But considering how shallow and superficial the majority of media streams are, it is highly likely they took Toni’s quote out of context.
Augusta generalizing again. I am a Fed fan and I don’t hate uncle Toni 🙂 I can’t afford that.
Augusta -Please speak for yourself and stop casting aspersions on what others think or mean. We will say what we want to, take it or leave it.
Sanju AT 5:07 AM,
– I haven’t written what you ‘think’, I quoted you.
– I also say what I want!
The fact is, 6 of the top 10 players were in the draw and Rafa did beat the player who beat the 2nd seed, Federer since Murray did not start.
Which of rafas matches that he lost had you wished he won ? Top pick ?
For me it’s ao2012 and ao2017.not sure which of the 2 I would pick as both were winnable and ultra close. Maybe ao2012.
I also feel wimby 2007 is one where he lost 5 setter to Fed,he could have won. He had 2 bps at 2 all in 5th,he choked there.
Now Toni says Rafa will catch Fed’s 19 slams. Lol
Toni is on fire now that he has nothing to do.
Yep, even more evidence that his words were taken the wrong way in that other interview.
Although people seem to have very short memory… In 2013, most people said Federer was done and that Rafa would pass 17 in no time. They obviously shouldn’t have assumed Fed would never win again. Then after 2015, people were saying that Rafa would surely never win another major and that only Novak could pass 17. Clearly they were wrong to assume Rafa would never win again! Now that we’re back at square one like we were in 2014, with Fed only leading by three again, and suddenly people are just assuming again that Fed is surely done at 19. Do people never learn that you can NEVER count out Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?!? Some of these pundits who are suddenly saying that Rafa will surely pass “Roger’s 19” were just a couple weeks ago saying that they couldn’t imagine anyone passing 19, so now they look foolish. You would think they would learn their lesson that they need to just wait until these guys retire before assuming they will never win another one, but no!
The only reasons to believe that there is no way Federer could ever win more than 19 would be if his back never recovers. But there is truly no way for anyone to know what will happen with Fed’s back, OR with Novak/Andy/Stan’s return for that matter. Whenever Rafa and Federer decide that their bodies can never be healthy enough to compete with the best again (likely will happen sooner to Fed due to age), THEN we can write them off. Until then, I have been proven so wrong on far too many occasions by these guys for even just entertaining the possibility that they were ever finished winning. I wouldn’t dare consider it again as long as their bodies still let them compete at the highest level. I understand Uncle Toni saying it because he’s Rafa’s uncle and former coach. But the pundits with no relation to Rafa or Federer who have openly and definitively written both of them off before? It just surprises me that they are still willing to make assumptions about Fedal… You watch- if Federer managed to win a 20th next season, those same guys will be say, “Oh, surely no one will catch Roger now!” And then as soon as Rafa won his 17th, it will immediately be “Rafa is going to have a record 21 majors!” It’s like, just let it be haha. At least wait until the dust settles!
In no way am I saying that it’s not possible that Roger ends his career with 19 majors- as that would be contrary to everything I’ve said. I just don’t see why people bother making these assumptions anymore after they’ve been proven wrong so many times. 😛
Kevin – just shows how fickle and fair weathered the analysts or pundits or media is. They did it to Fed in 2013 n 16 , they did it to rafa in 12 and 15/16 , they doing it to Novak now. 1 slam win and they will change their tune. Sad part is lot of former players like McEnroe wilander also joining this fickle jumping on bandwagon game. I thought former players should respect players more .
BTW I am eager to read Fed’s comments on rafas uso. I want to see what he says. Most likely it will happen only at lavers cup.
The losses which hurt mostly all happened at AO IMO. And I really think he wouldn’t have lost against Wawa in 2014 if he hadn’t picked up this darn injury during warm-up.
That loss against Wawa was really the beginning of his physical and mental temporary decline. He seemed to have lost the joy of competing. He just wasn’t Rafa anymore. Just this year he managed to get back into a terrific physical and mental shape.
AO12 Rafa should have won. AO17, Fed played really well at the end.
I Keep thinking if Rafa had closed out the AO at the begining of the year, Federer would have 18, Rafa 17, and 1 GS would be all that wouldve seperated the two of them hmm, imagine the conversation we would all be having now lol 🙂
I’ve thought about that, too, Alison! Even further, think about the possibility that if Fed hadn’t won AO, could he possibly have not gone into the Sunshine Double with the confidence he had and maybe not won them? Then could it have caused him to go into the grass season with a lack of confidence and maybe even affected him there? Then it would be tied at 17 a piece. It really doesn’t matter at all because, to me anyway, what has happened thus far in tennis was meant to happen, or else it wouldn’t have happened. But it’s still really amazing to think about these turning points in seasons and careers just for fun. 🙂 It really does feel now like so much could have depended on that AO final…
Roger Federer will win 2 or 3 GS b4 he retires, 4 is a possibility but will be hard.
No current tennis player will surpass R. Federer’s record, they might tie it but won’t pass it.
Roger Federer is the BEST!
That could very well be, Stanley. If I were you, however, I wouldn’t be too overconfident about it because there is statistically a good possibility that an active player will end up passing him. I have no dog in this fight, but the truth is that nobody in the world, not even Roger/Rafa/Novak, has any idea how many major titles any of them will end their careers with. So by all means, keep your wishful thinking! But you would be saving yourself potential disappointment by accepting the reality that you truly don’t know. Personally, I would love it if Fed, Rafa, and Novak EACH end their careers with exactly 20 majors, as that would hopefully force everyone to accept that these guys equally great in their own respective right. 🙂
R. Federer is the best tennis player this year, ( i know the year ain’t over) and one of the best(i think he is the best) tennis player ever.
For Roger Federer to win 2 or 3 more GS before he retires is a piece of cake, the tournaments next year won’t be easy, this year wasn’t but he made it look easy that’s what Roger Federer does.
I said RFwill win 2 or 3 GS just to sound humble but if RF means business he could win 4 or 5 GS b4 he signs off.
No current player will surpass his record especially R. Nadal.
WtA Experts,
Jana Fett vs Jana Cepelova Who wins? Lean Fett Better form
Sara Sorribes Tormo vs Christina Mchale Who wins? Lean Mchale
Both matches seem to be close.
Like the over here and going with it.
What you think experts?
Close your eyes and don’t read this post as this is meant for the WTA page and for the WTA experts only!lol
No i won’t close my eyes i can’t sleep and i am watching a movie, bad recipe.
Jana Cepelova & Christina Mchale to win but i am not sure of J. Cepelova but she should win, she reached the semis last year.
Christina Mchale is the defeanding champion, Hurrah!
I didn’t know Jana Cepelova match had started, she lost the 1st set and is losing the 2nd set.
R. Nadal is a humble guy, he might not be humble in private but he is humble in public sometimes and some Rafans need 2 copy him.
Three is a bigger difference and RF is the BEST!
http://www.skysports.com/tennis/news/12110/11030301/rafael-nadal-not-concerned-with-overhauling-roger-federer-in-grand-slam-titles
he will never tie(OK tieing might be possible) or surpass RF’s record.
A student is not greater than his master.
Stanley, I have no idea if Rafa will tie or even surpass Fed’s slam haul. It’s a tall order. But how can you say that a student can never surpass his master?? There are many examples in many different areas where the student became better than the master. That said, I would even debate if Roger and Rafa have a student/master relationship. Being able to beat Roger wad and still is a powerful. motivation for Rafa, but he never tried to emulate Roger’s style. He developed his own style.
Kevin agree its all just a bit of fun, theres no harm or foul discussing such things, personally i dont believe either are done, and it will be interesting to see how Novak fairs when he returns to the tour, Andy and Stan too, i doubt Andy and Stan will reach the heights of Roger, Rafa and Novak, but i think they could get to Becker, Edberg status with 6 GS a piece which is doable, Andy is great at all GS i would think barring the French, and the same with Stan at Wimbledon ….
BTW Rafa has made three GS finals this year, where as not even Federer has done that ….
Alison how are you doing?
Littlefoot i like your comment a Little lol!
I like R. Federer a lot and he is not Rafito’s master, i was kidding.
To be honest with U if R. Nadal plays until he is 36 or more just like Federer, then there is a real possibility that he can tie or surpass RF’s record if he continues to play well(it’s not a tall order) and IF RF doesn’t add to this GS or retires soon.
I know that R. Federer will win more GS’s but i don’t see playing professional tennis in 2020 that’s sad and painful cos he is THE or one of the best tennis players that ever played the game.
Next year will be tough if injured players return to full fitness.
A. Murray & S. Wawrinka will never surpass RF record except if everyone goes crazy and no one will.
A. Zverev & N. Djokovic are my favourite too and they both have bright futures.
Is the next ATP tournament Metz & St. Petersburg?