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Novak Djokovic of Serbia throws his racket into the stands after winning the men's championship match against Rafael Nadal of Spain at the US Open tennis tournament in New York, yesterday. - AP
NEW YORK (AP):
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic returned brilliantly and swatted winners from all angles to beat defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1 on Monday night and earn his first US Open title and third Grand Slam trophy of 2011.
Djokovic improved to 64 wins from 66 matches with 10 tournament titles in a simply spectacular year, one of the greatest in the history of men's tennis - or any sport, for that matter.
"I've had an amazing year," Djokovic said, "and it keeps going."
Against No. 2 Nadal, Djokovic is 6-0, all in finals - three on hard courts, including yesterday; two on clay; and one on grass at Wimbledon in July. Djokovic also won the Australian Open in January, and is only the sixth man in the 40-plus years of the Open era to collect three major titles in a single season.
"Obviously I'm disappointed, but you know what, this guy is doing is unbelievable," Nadal said.
Addressing Djokovic, Nadal added: "What you did this year is impossible to repeat, so well done."
The best win-loss record in the modern era was John McEnroe's 82-3 in 1984, although that included two Grand Slam titles, because he lost in the French Open final and didn't enter the Australian Open.
Roger Federer was 81-4 in 2005 with two majors, exiting twice in the semi-finals. Rod Laver (twice) and Don Budge are the only men to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in a year.
