For the fourth year in a row, the US Open final was being played on a late Monday afternoon, and for the second year in a row, the two finalists were the #1 and #1 players in the world, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Last year, Djokovic was considered the heavy underdog after a long, tough match with Roger Federer, saving two match points en route to victory, but this year was a different story. With Djokovic having beaten Nadal 5 straight times in finals in 2011, the odds were most certainly tilted in his favour. In the end, Djokovic capped off a wonderful Grand Slam season with a 62 64 67(3) 61 win over his foe, Nadal, thus giving him his third major title of the year, and fourth overall.
The match itself was what you would expect between a Djokovic/Nadal match. Long baseline rallies, brilliant defense, and a LOT of time in between points. In the first set, Nadal jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but then Djokovic won 6 straight games to take the crucial opening set. The second set started the exact same as the first, with Nadal again gaining a 2-0 lead, but then the seemingly invincible Djokovic stormed back, and took 6 of the next 8 games to take a commanding two sets to love lead. In the third set, it looked like more of the same, as Nole got a break lead, but Nadal fought back with everything he had, and broke even. Then, at 5-5, Nadal was broken and Nole was serving for the match. Nadal ended up breaking, sending the match to a 3rd set tiebreak, which Nadal played his best tennis of the tournament to win 7-3. At the start of the fourth set, after the first game, Djokovic took a medical time-out to treat a back problem, and with all the momentum on Nadal's side after the tiebreak, it all vanished as Nole won the set 6-1 and his first US Open title.
Before the match started, Nadal himself had said on numerous occasions that Djokovic was inside his head and that he hadn't found any solution to defeat him. He could not find one on Monday, and the match really wasn't even close. Djokovic was never really threatened at all, and seemingly broke Nadal's serve at love. Rafa's serve, which had been questionable the past two matches against Andy Roddick and Andy Murray, was eaten alive with deep, penetrating returns that immediately gave Novak the edge at the start of the point. The reliable lefty slice serve on the ad court was rendered useless. From the baseline, the crosscourt forehand of Nadal was hammering back by the imperious Djokovic backhand. It was clear pretty much the entire match that Djokovic is just the perfect opponent to beat a player like Nadal. Nadal cannot hit through the court like a Roger Federer can, and his spinny balls have no effect on Novak's backhand.
More than anything however, this match showed how one-dimensional Rafael Nadal really is. The majority of the match he was standing ten feet behind the baseline, trying to play like it was the French Open final. On a hardcourt, no matter how fast, that just doesn't work. Roger was able to give Novak fits on Saturday because he takes the ball early, hits it flat, and uses his serve to his advantage. Nadal does not take the ball early, does not hit it flat, and lost all the pace on his serve from a year ago when he won the US Open title. A big reason why Nole was able to break Nadal so many times was that he returns the ball so deep and so flat, Nadal cannot half-volley like Federer can, so while Roger has a decent chance of keeping the rally neutral should Novak pound a return at his feet, Nadal cannot. On the forehand, his extreme grip does not allow him to. He ends up topping the ball, and against Novak right now, if the ball is short, he will pounce, as he has shown all of this year. Overall, it was a brilliant performance by Djokovic, he completely deserves all the praise he has gotten in 2011, and Rafael Nadal has a serious problem that could be a big issue for the rest of his career. Like Roger with Rafa in 2008, Rafa has his own nemesis who can beat him consistently on any surface.
PS: Something MUST be done about the time wasted in between points by both Nadal and Djokovic. It is sad to see that a 4-hour 3 set match in Madrid two years ago was barely shorter than a 4 set Grand Slam final. Mary Carillo was also talking about both of these men getting illegally coached, and that issue must be addressed also. Not sure about Djokovic, but it is plainly obvious that Nadal has gotten coaching his entire career.
Cheers!
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