U.S. Open 2017: Nadal wins 16th Grand Slam over Anderson

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal (31), ranking has kept his U.S. Open championship to make a triumphant comeback.

In the final of the U.S. Open Championship that took place Sunday (local time) at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, the U.S., Nadal easily defeated Kevin Anderson of South Africa.

Anderson’s serves that are powered by his 203-centimeter-tall physique was menacing. Anderson recorded 10 serve aces, far outnumbering Nadal’s 1. However, Nadal displayed robust physical stamina and skillfulness. In a number or rallies, Anderson made 40 errors before kneeling down, while Nadal had 11 errors.

As a result, Nadal has secured two wins in a single season for the first time since 2013. Nadal won the France Open title this year as well. Having posted 16 major event wins overall as an individual athlete, Nadal has only three games to go before tying the record in overall number of major event wins (19 wins), which is currently held by Roger Federer of Switzerland.

Up until last year, many used to say that Nadal’s heyday in his career was already over as he hadn't advanced into the final even in a single event after the 2014 France Open. This season, however, he has five victories including two major championships, demonstrating his triumphant comeback. After the game, Nadal said that he is grateful for the best year ever.

Some watchers say that Nadal was very lucky in this year’s U.S. Open, however, as he did not play even a single match with players ranked within the top 20. Big-name players including world No. 6 Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Andy Murray did not participate in the event due to injuries.

Sang-Hoon Kim corekim@donga.com