Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 on Monday to win his first US Open title and to become the seventh man to complete the career Grand Slam.

He also became the first player to win three straight Grand Slam tournaments in the same season since Rod Laver won all four in 1969.

“I’m still 24. For me, it's a dream to have the career Grand Slam, but this is more a dream to have the US Open,” he said. “[It’s an] unbelievable feeling because I worked a lot all my life, in all difficult moments to be here, but I never imagined to have the four Grand Slams.”

This was his ninth Grand Slam crown; he won Roland Garros five times (2005-08, 2010), Wimbledon twice (2008, 2010), and Australian Open once (2009). He is the second player to win Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces at least twice, behind Mats Wilander.


Nadal, who has already secured his place in the elite eight-man field at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals which will return to The O2 in London from 21-28 November, has set his sights on winning the year-end championships.

“My goal remains for me that the [Barclays ATP World Tour Finals] is probably the last big tournament that I didn't win,” he said. “That's true it’s the most difficult title for me to win because we play it indoors, and when indoor, indoor very quick surface, so gonna be always very difficult if we don't change that. But at the same time is a challenge for me to keep improving to have the chance to play well there and to have the chance to win, so that's what I’m gonna try this year.

“For me right now the next goal is try to finish the season much better than what I did in other years. The last part of the season always was difficult for me. Well, today it started to be less difficult, that's true. But I want to finish the season if it's possible with a good feeling.”

Djokovic reclaimed the No. 2 spot in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings by defeating Roger Federer in Saturday’s semi-final.

He said: “Maybe emotionally I was a little bit drained after the semifinal match, but I recovered. I had two days, and I was motivated to win this match, and this is one of the matches where the opponent plays better than you, and you just have to congratulate him and tell him, ‘You're better.’ That's it. I don't think I played a bad match overall. It was very good performance from my side. But whenever it was important, he was the one who was playing just too good.”

Despite finishing runner-up in a US Open final for the second time in four years, Novak had few complaints as he reflected on his defeat to Rafael Nadal.

“This is one of the matches where the opponent plays better than you, and you just have to congratulate him and tell him, ‘You're better’. That's it. I don't think I played a bad match overall. It was very good performance from my side.

“I cannot hide the disappointment. [But] I'm not gonna cry or complain about that… Of course, I am feeling bad about my loss. I wanted that trophy, and I know I gave my maximum to get it even tonight.”

After the match, Novak said that he believes Rafael Nadal can become the best player of all time.

“He has the capabilities already now to become the best player ever. I think he's playing the best tennis that I've ever seen him play on hard courts. He has improved his serve drastically. The speed, the accuracy, and of course his baseline is as good as ever.

“So he's a very complete player. And for me, in order to win against him tonight, I had to be on the top of my game. I was playing really well for most of the match, but then there were some moments in, let's say, third and fourth set where I dropped my focus a little bit. I dropped my level of game and just a little bit on service games. He took it away, and he never gave me a chance to go back.”

Rafael Nadal wins US Open, completes career Grand Slam