Nadal beats Djokovic to win 13th Grand Slam title

PanARMENIAN.Net - Rafael Nadal confirmed his status Monday, Sept 9 night as the dominant force in men's tennis with a four-set win over world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open final, CNN reports.

Nadal won 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

The match unfolded in dramatic fashion in front of a Hollywood-led crowd of celebrities which included David Beckham, Kevin Spacey, Jessica Alba, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Connery and Justin Timberlake.

For Nadal, it was his second U.S. Open title and, as importantly, marked a triumphant return to the peak of his powers after a long battle to overcome a knee injury.

The Spaniard also avenged his defeat to Djokovic in the 2011 Flushing Meadows final to clinch his 13th grand slam title. That puts him one grand slam behind American Pete Sampras and four behind Roger Federer of Switzerland.

In the 37th meeting between the two players, the sixth in a grand slam final, world No. 2 Nadal extended his hard-court winning streak to 22 matches.

Serbia's Djokovic has now tasted defeat in two consecutive U.S. Open finals after his five-set loss to Andy Murray in 2012.

“Probably nobody brings my game to the limit like Novak,” said Nadal, 27, who fell on his back in relief when Djokovic’s final forehand plowed into the net to end the match, then jogged to the net to embrace his longtime rival, the Washington Post reports.

Nadal called it the most emotional match of his career.

And Djokovic, who finished with more winners than Nadal (46 to 27) but more than twice the unforced errors (53 to 20), conceded that the better player won.

“Many times you fall as an athlete,” Djokovic said. “You have to learn the lesson and keep on going, keep on fighting, keep on improving. I’m still 26, and I believe the best time in my career is about to come. As long as I believe it, the fire of love towards the game is inside of me. And as long as that’s present, as long as I feel it, I’m going to play this sport with all my heart, as I did I [the] last 10 years.”