Djokovic beats Nadal again for first U.S. Open title

Novak Djokovic gets the best of Rafael Nadal for the sixth straight time this season in the U.S. Open final on Monday. Djokovic captures his third Grand Slam title of the year. For Novak Djokovic, the dream season continues. For Rafael Nadal, Djokovic continues to be his worst nightmare.

Djokovic beat Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1 in the U.S. Open final on Monday evening, triumphing in New York for the first time after four hours and nine minutes. By defeating Nadal for the sixth time in six finals this season, Djokovic captured his third Grand Slam title in 2011 following wins at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Nadal got off to a strong start, but it was all Djokovic the entire rest of the way in set one. After donating serve in the second game of the match due to a series of backhand errors, the world No. 1 broke right back when his opponent sent a forehand long. Djokovic then won two straight deuce games for a 4-2 advantage before completely overwhelming Nadal in the final two games to take the set.

The second frame of play began in similar fashion. Nadal recovered and jumped out to a 2-0 lead only to see Djokovic break right back. A 17-minute third game with Nadal serving saw the Spaniard hold three game points before Djokovic finally capitalized on his fourth break chance when Nadal dumped an overhead in the net.

Just as he did in set one, Djokovic erased a 2-0 deficit by running off four consecutive games in swift fashion. This time, though, Nadal did not let him get immediately to six. The world No. 2 earned his third break of the day to get back on serve at 4-4, but he again failed to consolidate after breaking. After pulling ahead 5-4, Djokovic wrapped up the set with a routine hold and capitalized on his first set point with a huge serve.

Set three featured a reversal of fortunes, as Djokovic became the one who could not consolidate a break. Nadal seemed to be on the way to a straight-set exit, but he broke back twice--once at 1-2 and again when Djokovic served for the championship at 6-5. After playing his way into a tiebreaker, Nadal seized control by surging to a 5-1 lead and taking it seven points to three.

In the aftermath of such a dramatic, high-quality set that lasted 84 minutes by itself, both players seemed to have little left for the fourth. Djokovic managed to hold before taking a medical timeout for a back issue, and Nadal never again had the momentum. Djokovic came right back out and broke for 2-0 then extended the margin to 3-0 with a routine hold.

Despite consistently tossing in offspeed serves, the top seed never came close to getting broken and he quickly pulled away from a worn-out opponent. Djokovic added another break in the sixth game of the set then capitalized on his first championship point at 5-1, 40-30 with a clinching forehand winner.

Djokovic--who has toppled Nadal in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome, at Wimbledon, and now at the U.S. Open this season--wrapped up his effort with 55 winners and 51 unforced errors while striking seven aces against one double-fault. Nadal finished with 32 winners, 37 errors, two aces, and three double-faults.

This is Djokovic's first US Open title and his fourth major after wins in Australia (2008, 2011) and Wimbledon(2011). With a win in New York, Djokovic picked up his tenth singles title of the year, following up with his wins in Melbourne, Dubai, Belgrade, Rome, Madrid, Indian Wells, Miami, Wimbledon and Montreal.

For his win, Djokovic collected the winner's check of a whopping US$ 2.3 million that included a bonus of US$ 500,000 for finishing runner up at the Olympus US Open series.

During the trophy presentation, Djokovic said- "It’s an incredible feeling, everytime I play Rafa we have great play, I wanna congratulate him for a wonderful tournament. I want to add to what Rafa said that I wanna extend my compassion to the people who lost their friends and families in the 9/11 tragedy."