Tuesday, 10 September 2013

Rafael Nadal: Beating Djokovic was 'amazing'

Rafael Nadal has described his US Open title win "amazing" after defeating Novak Djokovic in a tense final.

Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-1 to win for the second time at Flushing Meadows, it's his 13th grand slam title. The Spaniard returned to the game earlier this year following seven months out due to a knee injury. 

"This season is probably the most emotional one I've had," said Nadal.

"It means a lot for me to have this trophy with me today. It's just amazing."

He added: "I felt that I did everything right to have my chance here.

"You play one match against one of the best players in history like this, Novak, number one in the world, probably on his favourite surface, so I have to be almost perfect to win."

Nadal had to withstand a strong performance from Djokovic who looked close to earning a double-break in the third set, and then earned three break points at 4-4 all though Nadal managed to hold serve.

"When Novak plays that level, I am not sure if anybody can stop him," said Nadal.

"I know that it was really important to stay only one break behind. If I lose the second break, then it's over, the third set.

"So I tried to be there, keep fighting for every ball, and tried to be focused in every moment and tried to wait for my moment.

"Even when I had that 0-40 it was really, really amazing. I played an ace. I played an unbelievable forehand down the line, so that was one of the key moments of the match."

Nadal has now clinched a total of 13 grand slam titles, he's one behind Pete Sampras and four behind all time leader Roger Federer.

"It was disappointing that I dropped the third set, even though I felt like, especially in first four or five games, I was the one who was dictating the play," Djokovic said.


"But it's all my fault, you know. I made some unforced errors in the crucial moments with forehands and dropped the serve twice when I should not have. Next thing you know, all of a sudden it's two sets to one for him.
"Then he started playing much, much better after that and I obviously could not recover after that loss."

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