It was most certainly not Rafael Nadal’s fault Roger Federer fell short of keeping their promised date for the semifinal any more than it was the Spaniard’s…
It was most certainly not Rafael Nadal’s fault Roger Federer fell short of keeping their promised date for the semifinal any more than it was the Spaniard’s fault that neither Novak Djokovic nor Andy Murray were healthy enough to compete in the U. S. Open.
But it was entirely to Nadal’s credit in the way he marched through the draw to the final before destroying the 28th-seeded and overmatched South African Kevin Anderson 6-3,6-4,6-4 with a virtuoso performance through which he captured his third U. S. Open and 16th Grand Slam title.
Nadal has won all 16 of them with one full-time coach, his uncle Toni, whom the champion calls, “A very important person in my life.”
But the quest for 17 and beyond — and to catch and overtake Federer’s standing record of 19 such titles — seems destined to continue with an as yet undetermined coach in his box, with uncle Toni previously having decided to step away in order to run the Nadal Tennis Academy in Spain.
“This is his decision, ” said Nadal, who had not won a hard-court tournament since Qatar in January 2014. “But the most important thing for me is that he is happy. If he is happy, I am happy, because he is more than my coach. He is my uncle. He is part of my family.”
Following a semifinal victory Thursday over Juan Martin del Potro, the swashbuckling lefty said he thought it was “stupid” that a coach could not communicate directly with a player during a match.
Now, the world’s top-ranked player will have to be as smart in choosing a coach as savvy in making his on-court decisions.
Nadal came to net 16 times and won 16 points. The champion did not confront a single break point. Indeed, Nadal did not face so much as a deuce point until his 14th and final service game when he served for the match at 5-4 in the third set.
This is the first time since 2010, and the fourth time overall, that Nadal and Federer combined to win all four majors. In tennis, where the Big Four have won 46 of the last 51 slam events, everything new is old and everything old is new.
The next generation is coming, because it always does, but is still in wait.
And it may wait for a while, what with Nadal’s resurgence, Federer’s renaissance, Djokovic’s anticipated revival after a long break caused by an elbow injury that followed Wimbledon, and Murray’s expected return to health following hip issues that forced him to withdraw from the Open two days before it began.
Federer beat Nadal in a five-set final in the Australian Open before skipping Roland Garros in order to prepare for Wimbledon, which he won. His quarterfinal defeat here to del Potro left him with a record of 18-1 in this year’s slams.
The Big Four. The Big Two. But there is one man at the top of the tennis world and it again is the 31-year-old tennis ball wizard from Manacor.
If this Open lacked for drama and compelling matches on the men’s side — and for the most part it did, with reigning champ Stan Wawrinka also absent — Nadal in the end made sure that the tournament did not lack for excellence.
Because there it was, on display Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, with Nadal spinning magic while climbing the stairway to the top of the tennis world.
The once and present — and don’ t bet against the future — champion.
