Another Grand Slam appearance, another win for Rafael Nadal.

The tennis icon from Spain defeated rising South African star Kevin Anderson in the 2017 U.S. Open final today at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, N.Y., 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. The victory is Nadal’s third at the event throughout his decorated career (his prior wins came in 2010 and 2013).

Nadal, who was ranked No. 1 in the world prior to the start of the U.S. Open, hit the court in the NikeCourt Lunar Ballistec 1.5. The shoes were customized for Nadal, with “10” and “13” on the heel for his two wins at the U.S. Open coming into Sunday’s match.

Although the iteration of the shoe worn by Nadal on Sunday aren’t available for fans to buy, other versions of the performance sneakers are online now to purchase via nike.com for $165.

For Anderson, who was ranked No. 32 overall, the 2017 U.S. Open was the first Grand Slam final appearance of his career. When he hit the court to face Nadal, he was wearing the Lotto Stratosphere II Speed, which retail for $119.99.

On Saturday, Under Armour tennis standout Sloane Stephens won her first-career Grand Slam championship, defeating Nike-sponsored Madison Keys in the U.S. Open women’s singles final, 6-3, 6-0.

Sloane Stephens Wore These Under Armour Tennis Sneakers in Winning The U.S. Open

The On Court Style of the Four American Women Taking the U.S. Open Quarterfinals</s>Sloane Stephens of the United States celebrates with the trophy after her victory against Madison Keys of the United States during the Women’s Singles Final at the US Open Tennis Tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 09, 2017 in Flushing, Queens, New York City.

NEW YORK — As fans stood to celebrate the new US Open champion, Sloane Stephens turned and stared at her player’s box, thinking about the journey this year that took her from wearing a cast on her broken left foot to hoisting her first Grand Slam trophy.

“I was thinking just wow,” said Stephens, who then walked through the stands to embrace her coach and her mother. “Winning a tournament is extremely special, but winning the US Open, being an American player, is even more incredible.”

On a night where two African-American women not named Williams met in a Grand Slam final for the first time, Stephens put on a clinic in easily handling Madison Keys, 6-3, 6-0, in a match that took just 61 minutes.

Stephens becomes just the fourth African-American woman to win a Grand Slam singles title, following Althea Gibson, Serena Williams and Venus Williams. It capped an incredible journey in which Stephens started the year with the broken foot and fell so far down the WTA rankings that she entered the US Open concerned about whether she’d have exemptions into future tournaments.

“When I had the surgery, I wasn’t thinking I would be anywhere near winning a Grand Slam title, nor did I think I was going to be anywhere near the top 100,” Stephens said. “I was worried about using my protected ranking to get here.”

Stephens’ win, the 15th in her past 17 matches, shows just how wide-open women’s tennis is today as she becomes the fourth different woman to win a Grand Slam title this year. Serena Williams missed most of the year after winning the Australian Open while she was eight weeks pregnant.

The win also caps an incredible year for Stephens, who:
• Cashes the biggest check of her career, with the winner taking home $3.5 million (Keys won $1.75 million as the runner-up). Stephens’ best earnings year prior to Saturday was 2013, when she earned $1.4 million after advancing to the Australian Open semifinals.
• Won the title as the No. 83-ranked player in the world, becoming the lowest-ranked player to win a US Open championship (Kim Clijsters was unranked when she won the 2009 title). Stephens is just the third US Open winner from outside the top 10.
• Reaches the top 20 in WTA rankings with the victory, at No. 17. That’s a 917-spot improvement in just over a month for Stephens, who was ranked No. 934 at the start of August.
• Had the same number of wins in this year’s US Open (six) than she had in her previous appearances at the tournament combined.

Stephens and Keys shared a long embrace at the end of the match. As the two waited for the trophy presentation, Stephens pulled up a chair next to Keys and the two had a brief conversation.

“We’ve known each other for a long time, and we just wanted to share that moment with each other,” Keys said. “I think what she’s done is absolutely amazing. When she made her semifinal run in Australia, we all saw how great she was. Sloane has always had the talent.”

Stephens was clearly the more dominant player against her good friend Keys, who admitted she never felt settled the entire match.

“I was nervous,” Keys said. “Sloane’s a tough opponent to play when you’re not making a lot of balls. It was kind of like I didn’t totally know what to do once I got on the court, which just intensifies the nerves even more.”

Stephens said she was nervous as well, spending a restless Friday night leading into the Saturday afternoon final.

“Everyone was freaking out — my mom was talking about shenanigans, and my coach was talking about shenanigans,” Stephens said. “I had a long time to think about playing in the finals of a Grand Slam. I was literally twiddling my thumbs. … I was looking at car reviews on Auto Trader, that’s how bored I was.”

There were no nerves once she took the court. Stephens demonstrated power and quickness as she crushed Keys’ spirit. In her final match of an impressive two weeks, Stephens committed just six unforced errors.

“Oh my God, that’s a stat,” Stephens said. “I don’t think that’s ever happened to me before.”

As she took the media podium with the US Open trophy bearing her name in front of her, Stephens was asked whether the win would give her a greater hunger for another Grand Slam title.

“Did you see the check that lady handed me?” Stephens said. “If that doesn’t make you want to play tennis, I don’t know what will.”

Regardless of what happens the rest of her career, Stephens said winning the US Open on Saturday night is life-altering.

“I’m going to totally put this in my bio: US Open champion,” Stephens said. “I think when anyone has a Grand Slam champion in front of their name, it changes things a bit.”</s>NEW YORK -- Rafael Nadal entered the 2017 Grand Slam season on a 2½-year drought without so much as one appearance in a major final, let alone a title. He ends it having reasserted himself, capped by a U.S. Open final that shaped up as quite a mismatch -- and turned out to be exactly that.

His game at a higher level than it needed to be by the end of an unusually easy path through the field, Nadal overwhelmed Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to win his third championship at Flushing Meadows.

"Of course, after a couple of years without competing at this very high, high level,'' Nadal said, "very happy to be back.''

The No. 1-ranked Nadal collected his 16th Grand Slam trophy overall and at his news conference, he wore a white T-shirt listing the date and site of each one. Among men, only Roger Federer has more, with 19. Each of those two longtime rivals won two of the four majors this season, marking their return to the heights of their sport.

Nadal has dealt with knee and wrist problems, both likely a result of his physical brand of play, over his career, but 2015 and 2016 were his first seasons without reaching at least one Grand Slam final since 2004, when he was still a teenager.

Seems safe to say that, at age 31, he is once again the Nadal of old.

"I mean, I've always said he's one of the, obviously, greatest players of our sport, obviously feeling very confident,'' Anderson said. "He seems to have turned around a lot of those injuries he's experienced the last couple of years. I guess time will tell on that.''

At No. 32, Anderson was the lowest-ranked U.S. Open men's finalist since the ATP computer rankings began in 1973. The 31-year-old South African never had been past the quarterfinals at any major tournament in 33 previous appearances, so when he won his semifinal on Friday, he climbed into the stands to celebrate.

There would be no such joy for him on this day.

"Personally, it's just unbelievable what happened this year," Rafael Nadal said of winning two majors this year for the first time since 2013. "After a couple of years with some troubles, injuries, some moments playing not good." Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Nadal added to his U.S. Open triumphs in 2010 and 2013 and improved to 16-7 in Grand Slam finals. For the first time since 2013, he appeared in three in a single season, losing to Federer at the Australian Open in January, then beating Stan Wawrinka for his record 10th French Open trophy in June.

Nadal's career haul also includes two trophies from Wimbledon and one from the Australian Open. All of his big victories have come while being coached by his uncle, Toni, who is now stepping aside. The U.S. Open was the last Grand Slam event of their partnership.

It was not as daunting as usual.

Not since Pete Sampras at Wimbledon in 2000 had a man won a Slam tournament without facing any opponents ranked in the top 20. In New York, the bracket was weakened by the injury withdrawals of three of the top five men: past champions Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Wawrinka.

Plus, Nadal did not need to deal with Federer: The potential for a semifinal, which would have been their first U.S. Open meeting, was dashed when Juan Martin del Potro eliminated Federer in the quarterfinals. Nadal then beat del Potro , the 2009 champion but now ranked 28th, in the semis.

Much like Nadal's 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 win against Wawrinka at Roland Garros, the only beauty of this match was not in its competitiveness -- not by a long shot -- but in an appreciation for one participant's absolute superiority.

Forehands whipped up the line. Two-handed backhands ripped cross-court with ferocity. The spinning, back-to-the-net returns of serves that darted in at him at more than 130 mph (210 kph) and helped him break Anderson four times.

"I learned a lot of lessons,'' Anderson conceded. "It was a difficult match, up against somebody who has been on that stage over 20 times before.''

Nadal even came up with some terrific volleys, winning the point on all 16 of his trips to the net. Anderson, meanwhile, finished 16 for 34 in that category. Another difference-maker: Nadal never faced a break point, although that was more a reflection of his talent once the ball was in play than any particularly dominant serving.

With Nadal standing way back to receive serves, nearly backing into the line judges, he neutralized Anderson's most effective skill. Anderson came in having won 103 of 108 service games across six matches, but Nadal accumulated break points at will from the get-go -- two in a six-deuce game at 1-all, another two in a five-deuce game at 2-all.

Anderson began trying to end points quickly with a volley. Two problems with that: Anderson is not usually a serve-and-volleyer and so is no expert at that tactic; Nadal is superb at summoning passing shots at extreme speeds and angles, especially when facing the sort of target provided by the 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson, the tallest Grand Slam finalist in history.

At 3-all, 30-all, Anderson double-faulted to offer up Nadal's fifth break point of the match, then badly pushed a forehand wide.

That only made the score 4-3 , but the statistics were telling: Anderson had 21 unforced errors, Nadal just four. A pattern had been established.

"That,'' Nadal said, "changed the rest of the match.''

When he broke to lead 4-2 in the second set , that was pretty much that.

"I always accepted all the challenges that my career present to me. The good news and the negative news, I accepted in the same way, in a very natural way. I am a person that I don't have much ups and downs,'' Nadal said. "When I am in a negative moment, I don't go very down. When I am in a positive moment, probably like now, I don't believe that I am that good.''

Rest assured, Rafa. You're good.</s>The door was opened for surprises in the U.S. Open men’s field when injuries took out Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka before the tournament began, and it opened wider when the late withdrawal of No. 2 seed Andy Murray shook up the bottom of the draw. The struggles of a subpar Roger Federer — who lost in the quarterfinals before he could have his first-ever Flushing Meadows matchup against Rafael Nadal — scrambled things again.

And so it was that Nadal, ranked No. 1 in the world, made it to Sunday’s final at Arthur Ashe Stadium without having to face a seeded player until he defeated No. 24 Jan Martin del Potro in the semifinals, and that South African Kevin Anderson made it through the bottom half of the draw and to the final as No. 32 in the world, the lowest-ranked U.S. Open finalist since the men’s rankings were launched in 1973.

“We are sort of accustomed to the few guys doing well,” Anderson said of the missing elite players after his 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 semifinal victory over No. 12 seed Pablo Carreno Busta put him into his first Grand Slam final. “It’s tough beating those guys because they have had so much experience at this level.”

Nadal, 31, is the decided favorite as he pursues his third U.S. Open title and 16th Grand Slam championship in his 23rd Grand Slam final. His course here hasn’t been entirely smooth but he has gradually raised his level of play. On Friday he said he awoke in a good frame of mind before he faced Del Potro. “I say to myself, ‘Today is the day that’ll play. I need to play with the right energy and I need to increase the level of my game,’ and I know that,” Nadal said. “A lot of times I know that and it didn’t happen, but [on Friday] it happened.”

After switching tactics and changing the rhythm of his serve, he went on to earn a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Del Potro, who had upset Dominic Thiem and Federer. “Important victory against a great opponent,” Nadal said.

Nadal has a 4-0 edge over Anderson in head-to-head matchups, most recently prevailing in a round-of-16 win on clay this year in Barcelona, Spain. Anderson, who is a few weeks older than Nadal, has been slowed by a labrum tear in his hip and had to withdraw from the Australian Open and retire in the fourth round at the French Open. He opted to go through rehabilitation instead of surgery and said his body feels heathy now.

He knows he will need to be at full strength on Sunday against Nadal — and even that might not be enough. “Nadal’s, I think, one of the greatest competitors in sport, period. He’s an amazing fighter,” Anderson said. “He really controls the court well the few times I have played him.

“I really need to be dominant and control proceedings as much as possible because if you let him do it, it’s very difficult.”

Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Jamie Murray of Great Britain won the mixed doubles title Saturday over Hao-Ching Chen of Tapei and Michael Venus of New Zealand 6-1, 4-6, 10-8. It was the seventh mixed doubles Grand Slam title for Hingis, who is a five-time Grand Slam singles champion. She will compete for her 13th women’s doubles Grand Slam title on Sunday, when she and Chan Yung-Jan of Tapei face the Czech duo of Lucie Hradecka and Katerina Siniakova.</s>NEW YORK — Rafael Nadal lived up to his reputation as the world No. 1 player and champion for the ages when he picked up his 16th career Grand Slam trophy at the U.S. Open on Sunday.

Nadal was never in danger during his 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win over the 28th-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa in the 2-hour, 27-minute match. The Spaniard now stands at 16-7 in Grand Slam finals, and this marks the fourth time in his career he’s taken home at least two Grand Slam trophies in a season.

Fists clenched and arms extended in the air flashing his muscles, Nadal beamed a huge smile in victory.

“Of course, very special two weeks for me,” Nadal said. “Personally it’s just unbelievable what happened this year to me after a few years troubles, injuries, and not playing good. ... This is one of events that brings me to high energy, the crowd here make me so, so happy.”

And typical of his personality to worry about others, Nadal used the award ceremony to send his best wishes to those who have suffered from the earthquake in Mexico and from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, saying, “All the best to the victims. ... We can't control what is happening.”

Nadal made it three U.S. Open titles in his treasure chest with the others picked up during final defeats of Novak Djokovic in 2010 and ’13.

When Nadal won the Open in 2010 as a 24-year-old, he became the youngest man in the Open era to complete a career Grand Slam in having won at least one title from each of the majors.

Having missed out on much of the second half of last season nursing a wrist injury, the 31-year-old Nadal’s been breathtaking this season, claiming two of the four Grand Slam titles. He won a 10th French Open title in June to become the only man or woman in the Open era to score 10 titles at the same Grand Slam.

Prior to this U.S. Open, Nadal hadn’t won a hard court title since the 2014 tournament in Doha, Qatar, which is always played the first week of each season.

Surprisingly, it was 36-year-old Roger Federer who captured the other two majors this season — the Australian Open with a five-set win over Nadal, who initially was up a break in the final set, and at Wimbledon. Federer, with a men’s record 19 Grand Slam trophies, missed the entire last six months of 2016 recuperating from a knee injury.

Not to take anything away from Anderson, the first South African to reach a U.S. Open final in the Open era, but expectations weren’t very high for him to pull out an upset. This was the fifth time he’s played Nadal, and he’s only ever won one set in their meetings.

The first set Sunday went 58 minutes, just three minutes shy of the length of the women's final in which Sloane Stephens won her first Grand Slam title over fellow American Madison Keys the previous day. Stephens and her mom, Sybil, were in the house on Sunday watching Nadal win the men's title.

Nadal was able to exploit Anderson’s weaknesses. While Anderson can boast a huge serve — he posted 10 aces to one for Nadal — his movement around the court is suspect and he’s not skilled at volleying.

Anderson, at No. 32 in the world, was the lowest ranked U.S. Open finalist since rankings began in 1973. He tends to be a player who lacks patience on the court, which resulted in his having 40 unforced errors to only 11 for Nadal. For his part, Nadal was often content to let Anderson sabotage himself, but knew the appropriate time to take control of the points.

But even more important was that Nadal continued to serve confidently as he had through most of the tournament. He never faced a break point in the match, and he also won all 16 points he played at the net. Many don’t think of Nadal on offense, moving forward, but he’s actually one of the great volleyers in the game.

Nadal returned to the No. 1 ranking on Aug. 21 for the fourth time in his career and will continue to hold onto the spot to increase his overall total of 144 weeks at the top.

Only three men in history — Nadal, Pete Sampras and Ken Rosewall — have won Grand Slam titles in their teens, 20s and 30s.

For those who might not believe that players are showing their muscles later into their careers, the last five Grand Slam champions have been 30 and over going back to Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland, who recently underwent knee surgery and didn’t show up in New York to defend his title.

In Grand Slam finals this year, players over 30 were featured seven times, with only the 29-year-old Marin Cilic at Wimbledon not old enough to join Nadal, Federer, Wawrinka and Anderson in that category.</s>NEW YORK – Three quick thoughts from the 2017 U.S. Open men’s final, where Rafael Nadal defeated Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 27 minutes.
• Rafael Nadal is your 2017 U.S. Open champion, winning his 16th major and third title in New York. The cynics will say that he won this with some help from the draw gods, all seven of his opponents residing outside the top 20, including Kevin Anderson in Sunday afternoon’s final. Unlike Nadal’s ball-striking, this analysis will be inaccurate. Winning his first non-clay title since early 2014, Nadal was at his Nadal-est, coming close to replicating the level he brought to bear during the clay season.

Healthy and teeming with confidence, Nadal showed off the full orbit of his game. The defense, the offense, the athleticism, the vastly underrated net play. (YouTube the point that won him the first set.) After losing the first set of his semifinal against Juan Martin del Potro, Nadal simply rolled, returning serves as though propped on tees, zoning those side-winding shots and taking early leads in all sets. He finished Sunday’s final winning 102 total points—including 16 of 16 at the net—and hitting 30 winners and 11 unforced errors on the match. We didn’t get Federer-Nadal but we got Nadal at his most elevated. If that is the consolation prize, sign us up.

Nadal is back at No. 1 and back atop the sport. And damn if he hasn’t earned it.
• Credit Kevin Anderson, a consummate professional who turned in the best Grand Slam result of his 10-plus-year pro career. As we saw in the women’s final, you just can’t simulate playing in a Grand Slam final for the first time. Everything from the ticket requests, to the nerves requiring a different level of energy calibration, to the knowledge that one match could completely redefine your career—it’s all different. Anderson played with poise for the first half hour. But he was broken at 3-3 in the first set and then the Mighty Nadal was awoken.

Anderson is a fine player who gives himself the best possible chances of success. He’s improved his game markedly since he came out of the University of Illinois. He’s recovered from injury. He’s benefitted from a sports psychologist and is unabashed to talk about it. But, outside of serving, he does nothing better than Nadal, lacks his lefty-ness and is not in the same class as an athlete or experienced player. Anderson had to turn in the serving match of his life to give himself a chance. When his roundhouses missed their mark, so did his title ambitions.
• Now that we’ve had our last gin and tonic of the summer—and the 2017 summer Slam season is, literally, in the books—let’s take a moment to reflect. Roger Federer started the year at No. 17; Rafael Nadal was barely clinging to the top 10. Neither held a major title. Both had entered their 30s. In Melbourne, everything breaks right, they play a dynamite five-set final in the Australian Open. The Republic of Tennis is thankful for the throwback tournament. Who knew it was a prelude to the rest of the year? In 2017, perhaps the two best players ever greedily hoarded the four majors, splitting them evenly. Far and away, they won more matches at the majors than any of their peers. They will continue battling for No. 1 through the fall, the dual axes on which the sport rotates. Adding in Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, the Big Four has won 46 of the last 51 majors. Pick your player to back, but surely we can all agree: this era will never be replicated.</s>New York, Sep 11 (IANS) Spain's Rafael Nadal defeated Kevin Anderson from South Africa 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to win his third US Open title on Sunday.

The victory gave the world number one the 16th Grand Slam title. Only his longtime rival Roger Federer has more, with 19.

Besides his triumph in New York, Nadal also won the French Open in June and has collected two major titles in the same year for the first time since 2013, when he won the last of his two US Open crowns.

Federer won the season's other two Slam trophies at the Australian Open, beating Nadal in the final, and Wimbledon, illustrating the two Grand Slam greats' enduring power.

World number 32 Anderson was the lowest-ranked US Open men's finalist since the ATP rankings began 44 years ago. He had never before been past the quarterfinals at any major tournament in 33 tries.

The final was a lopsided one where Nadal was never really tested by his opponent. He converted four of his nine breaking points while Anderson never had breaking chances. Anderson powered 10 aces compared to one from Nadal, but he made 40 unforced errors to just 11 from Nadal.

Nadal said: "It's unbelievable what happened this year. After a couple of years with a lot of trouble and pain, I've been playing a very high level in the sport."

"To close the Grand Slam year winning at New York feels good, that's one of the events that's really full of high energy. The US Open feels a little bit like home," said Nadal, who has yet to lose to Anderson, now standing 5-0 in the series.

Anderson, 31, gave all thumbs up to Nadal, saying "I know we're the same age but I feel like I've been watching you my whole life".

"He's one of the toughest competitors in the game and one of the greatest ambassadors of our sport," he added.</s>NEW YORK: World number one Rafael Nadal won his 16th Grand Slam title and third US Open crown on Sunday by defeating South African 28th seed Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

The 31-year-old left-hander captured the top prize of US$3.7 million (€3.07 million) and his second Grand Slam crown of the year after taking his 10th French Open title in June.</s>Who called this one? Exactly no one, that's who.

Coming into this year's tennis season, sports writers and commentators were contemplating career obituaries for Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, rather than predicting that they would sweep the season's Grand Slams. Who could blame them for preparing for the end of Roger and Rafa, whose stocks were slipping?

Nadal's 2016 results were a dour read: loses the first round at the Australian Open; withdraws from the French Open — where he had won nine titles — with a wrist injury before the third round; misses Wimbledon due to a bum wrist; fails to win a medal at the Rio Olympics; fourth round loss at the U.S. Open; ends the season in October (wrist again). He was 30, a pro for over half his life, with a dossier of injuries to show for it.

Meanwhile, Federer, aged 35. He hadn't won a single major victory since 2010, and none since 2012. He had knee surgery in 2016, and lost the last five months of the season to rehab.

Nadal and Federer won every Grand Slam tournament in 2006, 2007, and 2010. Now, improbable as it is to believe, you can add 2017 to that ledger. Nadal beat South Africa's Kevin Anderson in straight sets at the U.S. Open final Sunday evening, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, to cap off his remarkable Grand Slam campaign. Having won his 10th French Open in May, Nadal now owns 16 Grand Slam singles titles, two more than Pete Sampras' 14, and three behind Federer's record of 19.

Sure, Nadal's still chasing Federer in the title count. And Federer's own 2017 revival — he defeated Nadal in five sets in the Australian Open final, and won a eighth Wimbledon — won't make Nadal's quest to catch him any easier. Why shouldn't these guys keep on winning? This year has shown that until otherwise, they're still royalty. But Nadal is still five years younger than his rival and his deficit can be closed.

Nadal and Federer were on a collision course to meet at this year's U.S. Open, which would have been for the first time at this tournament. But Juan Martín Del Potro crushed those dreams, by knocking off Federer in a tense quarterfinal. After Federer fell, Nadal's title felt like a fait accompli . The semis were anti-climatic, and Anderson, the 28th seed, offered little resistance in the final. Anderson needed two lengthy games early in the first set to hold serve: Nadal finally broke him to go up 4-3, then cruised from there to close out the opening set. Anderson didn't have a break point opportunity the entire match.

"He never goes away," says Anderson. "I've seen so many times where, he's maybe down a break, and he's able to play every single point at such a high intensity. A lot of guys, sometimes, you might see them get angry at a line call and suddenly they start playing better tennis. I have never seen him [where it's] some external factor and suddenly he's bringing better tennis. He brings that high energy every single point."

While serving out the match at 5-4 in the third, a couple of knucklehead fans screamed Nadal's name before his first two serves of the game and Nadal seemed a tad distracted before the crowd of 25,755 finally complied with the umpire's request to be quiet.

At 15-15, Anderson had an easy opportunity to crawl closer to his first break point. Nadal sailed a lob to him, begging to be put away. Instead, Anderson smashed it long, as if he were taking a beginner's lesson. At match point, Nadal served-and-volleyed for the championship; he arched his back, raised his arms, and during the trophy ceremony, thanked the New York crowd that had just annoyed him. Nadal knows the deal with the boisterous New Yorkers. Three U.S. Open titles buys you such expertise.

On the Arthur Ashe Stadium Jumbotron, Nadal watched a video montage celebrating each of his Slam 16 titles. Not too long ago, many fans doubted we would witness Nadal, and his nemesis Federer, soaking in such celebrations after winning major championships. The film took quite a while to get through. To the great benefit of tennis, it might just keep getting longer.</s>Rafael Nadal raced to a third US Open title and 16th Grand Slam crown on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 rout of South African giant Kevin Anderson.

The world number one, the champion also in New York in 2010 and 2013, added the US title to the record 10th French Open he captured in June.

Old rival Roger Federer won the season's other two Slams at the Australian Open, beating Nadal in the final, and Wimbledon in an illustration of the two Grand Slam greats' enduring appeal and power.

Nadal's Grand Slam tally is just three behind Federer's record 19.

For Nadal, it was his fifth title of the year and 74th of his career while the $3.7 million (3.07 euros) winner's prize boosted his earnings to a shade under $90 million.

It was a desperately disappointing afternoon for Anderson, the world number 32 playing in his maiden Slam final at the 34th attempt.

He was the first South African in a US championship final since Cliff Drysdale in 1965 and was bidding to become his country's first Slam champion since Johan Kriek at the 1981 Australian Open.

The Johannesburg-born, Florida-based Anderson finished the 2hr 28min final with 40 unforced errors to Nadal's 11, failing even to carve out a single break point.

In a final guaranteed to result in the fifth Slam champion in succession who is 30 or older, Nadal was on top from the start.

He had 28th-seeded Anderson scrambling to save two break points in the third and fifth games before the Spaniard converted his fifth off a forehand error for a 4-3 lead.

The world number one held and broke again, cleverly forcing the 31-year-old South African out of position on set point after 58 minutes of action.

By the end of the opening set, Nadal had just five unforced errors to Anderson's 23 with the South African unable to muster a single break point.

The one-way traffic continued in the second set as Nadal broke for 4-2 off the back of three successive volleys.

Anderson even collected a time violation for his troubles as his efforts to compose himself failed horribly.

Anderson was broken again in the opening game of the third set.

It was his fourth loss of serve in the final; before Sunday, he had been broken just five times in the entire tournament.

Anderson called the trainer for a bloodied right index finger after the fifth game, but his struggles continued.

He saved a match point but Nadal wrapped it up with a clinical backhand volley.
Spain's Rafael Nadal defeats South African Kevin Anderson, 6–3, 6–3, 6–4, in the US Open men's singles final for his third championship at Flushing Meadows Park in the New York City borough of Queens. This is Nadal's second Grand Slam title this year, and his 16th overall.