By James Waterson Photo Credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
(September 12, 2011) World No. 1 Novak Djokovic became the fifth man in the Open Era to win three Grand Slams in a year when he outplayed defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1 at the US Open Monday.
Djokovic started nervously, as he dropped serve in the second game to go down 2-0. For a moment, Nadal looked as if he could run away with the set, but in his next service game he hit a forehand long to bring the set back on serve.
The Serb fought back from 15-40 to hold in his next service game, and then he went on a four game run that saw him close out the set in 53 minutes.
Once again, Nadal broke early and claimed a 2-0 lead. Djokovic broke back in a game that lasted 17 minutes that saw him hit an un-returnable return on three of Nadal’s game points.
"I had my chances. I really had my chases. At the beginning of the first I had two games to love. The first set was playing really the well beginning, and I lost a little bit the way how to play and lost a little bit the rhythm," Nadal said.
"Happened the same in the second set. You know, with that very, very long game, finally I had a mistake with the smash. So few tough points for me during the match. He's doing well. He always did well in these kind of surfaces."
He used that momentum to claim the next three games before Nadal held to reach 3-4 and then broke back to level the set. The Spaniard looked to be in the ascendency, but he missed two inside-out forehands to drop serve for the third time in the set.
Djokovic cruised through his final service game to take what looked to be an insurmountable two set lead.
The World No. 1 broke Nadal early in the third set, but he couldn’t hold on to his advantage as both players traded breaks throughout the set.
Most notably, Djokovic broke Nadal’s serve at 5-5 with a stunning down the line backhand, and he was two points away from winning the US Open title at 6-5 before Nadal stormed back to break again.
Nadal took complete control of the tiebreaker, and after three hours and 27 minutes, the match headed into the fourth set.
Djokovic appeared to struggle with his back, and he took a medical timeout after he held his serve in the first game of the set. Yet it was the Serb who drew first blood in the fourth set, as he broke Nadal on his fifth break point to go up 2-0.
"Luckily for me I had the ability to ask for medical timeout, and it helped me in the fourth set," Djokovic said. "I felt the most discomfort and pain with my serve, so I tried to go more for the precision rather than for speed."
"I think that actually helped me to get into the rally better, because he was expecting maybe a bit stronger serve so he was returning short and I was taking my chances. I had to make the points very short, because it's obvious that he is the one that's physically fitter than me on the court today after the third set was done."
He held to go up 3-0, and although Nadal held with relative ease it was obvious that the strain of the match got the better of him.
Djokovic plowed through his Spanish opponent in the rest of the match, and after more than four hours, the Serb sealed the win with a crosscourt forehand winner.
For the match, Djokovic hit 55 winners to 51 unforced errors, compared to Nadal's 32 winners and 37 unforced errors. The Serb also broke his opponent's serve 11 times, while he dropped serve six times.
"I didn't have free points. The serve didn't help me. I didn't start the points with an advantage tonight with my serve. That's a lot," Nadal said.
"So I don't think I need an ace or a winner serve, because I think I have enough good forehand later to have the control of the point. But a lot of times I started the point in the worst position than him when I was serving. So that's tough."
The World's No. 1 has now won four Grand Slam singles titles, which ties him with Jim Courier and Guillermo Vilas.
Djokovic joins Nadal, Roger Federer, Mats Wilander, and Jimmy Connors in the elite group of players who won three Grand Slam titles in one year.
The Serb said that his efforts this year are going to be hard replicate, so he's going to enjoy the moment.
"It's definitely going to take a lot of effort to try to repeat even half of what I have done this year for next year. Look, I'm trying to enjoy the present, enjoy this moment, and then I will think about future later."