Nadal, Djokovic and the ten things we learned from US Open 2013

Another Grand Slam season is over and the next major is only four months away. That’s a long time in the careers of some tennis players. And while we can ponder on or wish for what the tennis landscape might look like Down Under in January, let’s recap the fortnight in New York where two champions took a step closer to tennis immortality. 1) At Wimbledon, there were plenty of theories about how the end of Rafael Nadal’s career was imminent. The Spaniard hit back at those critics in the best possible manner. Nadal won back-to-back Masters Series titles and on Monday, he won his 13th Grand Slam title beating Novak Djokovic in a gruelling four-set battle. Nadal’s win kept his hardcourt record intact at 22-0, takes him within breathing distance of the world no. 1 spot (120 points behind with nothing to defend) and within one of Pete Sampras’ 14 slam titles (Federer is the only one ahead of Sampras at 17). Whichever way you cut it, Nadal’s win in New York adds another argument for his stake to the G.O.A.T. title and if he can remain healthy for a couple of more years, the GOAT debate may be put to rest for once and for all. 2) Could anyone with a 60-4 record for the year consider their season to be a disappointment? Well, you could if you are Serena Williams. The 31-year-old has dominated the game this year but had only one Grand Slam title to show for it. On Sunday, she won her second of the year, her fifth in New York and her 17th singles grand slam, beating world no. 2 Victoria Azarenka in a pulsating three-set final. Serena had the match on her racket in the second set, blew it but unlike in past years where her emotions got the better of her in New York, this time she regained her composure and her form to win the third set of that final. Serena is now one slam away from tying Navratilova and Evert at 18 (with Wills Moody at 19, Graf at 22 and Court at 24). At 31, Serena is four years older than Nadal. But if she can remain fit and motivated through the 2016 Rio Olympics, who knows.. 24 could be within grasp too! 3) Novak Djokovic came into the tournament without the best build-up. He played his way through the draw, and beat an inspired opponent in Wawrinka in the semi-finals, who he admitted played better tennis than him on that day. But Nadal was just too good for him on this day. This was their 37th meeting (Federer and Nadal have only played 31 times), already the most by any players in the Open Era. And with Djokovic at the age of 27 and Nadal at 28, there could likely be many more to come. The Serb will lose the no. 1 ranking to Nadal in a few weeks and come 2014, he will be the hunter gunning for Nadal’s scalp. 4) Victoria Azarenka showed that she is the biggest rival for Serena in the women’s game (the injured Sharapova seems clearly out of this equation for now). Azarenka found herself down a set and a couple break to Serena in the finals. But instead of caving in, she hung in where most others would have copped out and made a match out of it. It’s a pity the third set wasn’t close. But in losing too, Azarenka showed why there’s so much to like about her – the ability to hit the ball hard and deep and the fighting qualities of a champion. Hopefully we will get to see this rivalry play out for the next few years on the women’s side 5) The doubles events are usually given refugee status at tournaments. But with the Bryan Brothers gunning for a historic record and the Williams sisters also competing, there was plenty of interest on the doubles games in New York this time. The Bryans fell two wins short in their quest for the calendar year grand slam (the last team to do it was in 1951), losing in the semis to Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek, who went on to claim the title. This was 40-year-young Paes’ eighth men’s doubles title and 14th slam overall. And he’s gunning for a seventh Olympics appearance in Rio in 2016, showing no signs of slowing down. The Williams also lost in the semis to the Czech duo Andrea Hlavackokva and Lucie Hradecka, who went on to win their second women’s doubles grand slam title. Hlavackova, who hails from Plzen, the Czech town that gave Pilsner to the world (Her father, Jan, is the master brewer for Pilsner Urquell, who have been producing beer since 1842. Her family has run the company for nearly a century), also won the mixed doubles title, teaming up with Belarus’ Max Mirnyi (his 10th doubles title at the slams) 6) While women’s tennis continues to see a number of teens rise up the ranks, two 16-year-old juniors have been earmarked for future top 10 potential. Swiss Belinda Bencic, coached by Hingis’ mom Melanoie Molitor, won the French and Wimbledon junior singles title but lost in the quarters in New York. The title was won by Croatian Ana Konjuh, who won the Australian Open juniors title in January as well. Keep an eye out for both in the coming years. On the boy’s side, Croatian Borna Coric won the singles title, beating Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in the final. While the boys seem to be taking longer to breakthrough in the pros, these two should soon be making some noise on the ATP tour as well. 7) The days of Roger Federer as world no. 1 are long gone (actually it was just over a year ago that Federer made it back to the top spot). But who would have thought that his days as the Swiss no.1 player might also be numbered. Federer’s disastrous season continued in New York with a fourth round loss to Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo (his first loss to Robredo in 11 matches). Still, Federer managed to move up a spot in the rankings to no. 6 due to Juan Martin del Potro’s early exit. Federer clearly does not fit in the Nadal-Djokovc-Murray scheme of things anymore. Where does that leave him? Well.. this might sum it up best – Federer can no longer be considered favourite when he meets any of the ATP second tier (Berdych, del Potro, Ferrer, Tsonga, Gasquet and Wawrinka) but chances of him winning another slam continue to remain better than any of those others. Meanwhile, Wawrinka had his breakout tournament at the ripe old age of 28. The Swiss no. 2 knocked off Berdych and Murray to advance to his first grand slam semi-final and there extended Djokovic to five sets. Wawrinka has some of the best groundstrokes in the game and if he can remain mentally confident, he could aim for the top 5 next season. The Swiss no. 2 is only 130 points behind Federer in the race to the year-end London Championships and with Federer defending a ton of points in the post US Open swing from last year, Wawrinka is in a good position to end the season as Swiss no. 1 8) After an incredible 12 months during which he won the Olympics singles title, his first grand slam at the US Open, broke the 77-year British drought at Wimbledon and reached the finals of four consecutive majors that he played in, Andy Murray was due for a letdown. Luckily for him and for British tennis fans, it happened here in New York. Murray never seemed to find his form in the tournament, and was blown off by Wawrinka. While Murray has become fairly consistent at the majors, his record at the Masters and ATP level events leave a lot to be desired if he wants to chase the world no.1 ranking. 9) Frenchman Richard Gasquet was the other major surprise of the men’s tournament, outlasting Milos Roanic and David Ferrer in five sets to reach his first major semi-final. Gasquet’s backhand is a work of art but mental fortitude has never been his forte. Let’s see if this fortnight will be a turning point in his career? My guess is no. 10) The surprise on the women’s side was the 31-year-old Flavia Pennetta making her first Grand Slam semi-final, 12 months after undergoing wrist surgery. Pennetta, the first Italian ever to reach the top 10, upset the top two players in her country – Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci - on her way to the semis and hung tough with Azarenka for one set before going down. She’s up to no. 31 in the new rankings and with nothing to defend till the clay court season next year, she could make another run to the top 10.