He was the dominating figure throughout, both with his tennis and his presence.
He is world number one again, by quite a margin, and with two Grand Slam titles he and Roger Federer have shared the major spoils for 2017.
The final was expected to be a bridge too far for Kevin Anderson, but even the hardened Rafa fans could not have believed the way he out served the South African who had used that weapon to his benefit so well in the tournament.
Set one began with six service holds, but that didn't tell the story. Nadal lost only three points on his serve during that period, whereas Anderson struggled, saving two break points in the fifth game which lasted sixteen points.
Finally the 28th seed cracked in game seven, when leading 40-30. Two loose forehands, and a double fault in between, gifted the break to Nadal and from 4-3 the set was his, another break in the ninth game just icing on a cake being prepared for celebrations already underway.
Not too early for champagne as set two was also one way traffic, the break arriving with the second chance in the sixth game thanks to a winning smash. Still no break points on the excellent Spanish serve. Only seven points lost on the delivery from the line, and 12 from 12 points won at the net.
Comeback from Anderson ? No chance.
The third and final set was a siesta for Rafa, gaining a break in the opening game - Anderson led 40-15 but threw in four straight forehand errors of his own making, and Rafa simply held serve for the rest of the set.
6-3 6-3 6-4 was a picture of the total domination of the tournament from the top seed, and deserved. Rafa Nadal has won 3 US Opens and 16 Grand Slam titles.
Kevin Anderson has moved to number 15 in the world rankings, a jump of 17 spots and now he is just five away from his career high.
No comments:
Post a Comment