U.S. Open final preview and pick: Djokovic vs. Nadal

The top two players in the world will collide on one of the biggest stages in tennis when Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal take the court for the U.S. Open final on Monday. One man will capture his second Grand Slam title of the season.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will be squaring off for the 37th time in their careers and for the fourth time this season when they battle for the U.S. Open on title on Monday.

Nadal has won two of three encounters in 2013, including two in a row to extend his head-to-head series lead to 21-15. Djokovic prevailed in straight sets in the Monte-Carlo final, but Nadal won 9-7 in the fifth set at Roland Garros and in a third-set tiebreaker at the Montreal Masters. The Spaniard is 7-11 against Djokovic on hard courts, 7-3 in Grand Slams, and 2-3 in slam finals.

Djokovic did well to hold off the competition and book a spot in his fifth career U.S. Open title match. After easing past Ricardas Berankis, Benjamin Becker, Joao Sousa, and Marcel Granollers in straight sets, the top-ranked Serb beat Mikhail Youzhny in four and staged a comeback to get past Stanislas Wawrinka in five on Saturday. Djokovic is 50-8 for the season, which already includes one major title in Melbourne.

Nadal has been the dominant hard-court player of the year, and nothing has changed this fortnight in New York. The world No. 2 has dropped a mere one set in victories over Ryan Harrison, Rogerio Dutra Silva, Ivan Dodig, Philipp Kohlschreiber (the lone four-setter), Tommy Robredo, and Richard Gasquet. Coming off back-to-back Masters titles in Montreal and Cincinnati to go along with a triumph in Indian Wells, Nadal boasts an amazing 59-3 record for the season.

“It is good if both of us are playing at a very high level, so the match becomes great because we play long rallies, we bring our game, and it becomes a very difficult match for both of us,” Nadal commented. “I hope to be ready for that. I’m going to try. I need to keep playing very aggressive.”

“He’s the ultimate competitor out there,” Djokovic said of his opponent. “He’s fighting for every ball and he’s playing probably the best tennis that he ever played on hard courts. With no doubt he’s the best player in the moment this year. The way he’s been playing, he’s very confident. But I know how to play him.”

Nadal may have a slight edge in current form, but Djokovic has plenty of reasons to take heart–one being his past history against Nadal both on hard courts and in slam finals. Just as it is almost impossible to win three sets in a span of five against Nadal on clay, it is extremely difficult to do the same against Djokovic on hards. Although the 2011 U.S. Open champion will have his hands full in this one, he seems to play even better when his back is against the wall. At the 2012 Australian Open, Djokovic played a longer semifinal against Andy Murray than he did against Wawrinka and he recovered two days later to topple Nadal in a grueling final that cannot be less taxing than whatever transpires on Monday.

It is not smart to bet against either one of these players right now. The only safe assumption is that this will be one of the best matches of the year in terms of both quality and intensity.

Pick: Djokovic in 5

[polldaddy poll=7380172]