Beyond brilliant, this bull terrier of a champion can be greatest of all

 
EPA
Dan Jones10 September 2013

The best way to sum up Rafael Nadal’s brilliance at the US Open this year is to say that Novak Djokovic — the world No1 and the most consistent hard-court player of the last three years — did well to take the final to four sets.

At times last night Djokovic played like a master. He stuck with Nadal through some dazzling rallies, including that 54-stroke extravaganza.

But, in the end, he was up against a man working to a standard far beyond brilliant. Nadal played blistering, unplayable tennis: the deadly combination of power combined with pinpoint accuracy.

To remodel an old phrase from Mike Tyson, every shot was thrown with bad intention, and the speed of the devil.

It was one of those times when we find it hard to imagine that Nadal has ever been the fragile, knee-bound down-in-the-mouth he seemed after being bundled out of Wimbledon in the first round.

Since Wimbledon he has gone on a hard-court streak of 22 matches unbeaten, as tightly muscled through the forequarters and as relentless in his aggression as a Staffordshire bull terrier with a yard of rope between its jaws.

In the end it was the US Open trophy between Nadal’s jaws — the second time he has won at Flushing Meadows and his third hard-court slam title overall.

He now has 13 Grand Slams. Is the figure doped a bit by Nadal’s eight titles on the clay at Roland Garros? Not really. Every player has their favourite and most favourable event: consider that the point of comparison is Roger Federer, whose 17 titles are founded on seven wins on Wimbledon’s grass.

Nadal is 27. Who knows how many times we will see him at the level he reached last night before the knees finally defeat him? Three years might be enough to match Federer’s title tally and force the world to reconsider who really was the greatest of all time. For the moment, anyhow, Rafa is king.

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