Men's US Open - Nadal achieves career grand slam

Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in the US Open final to become the 7th man in history to claim the career grand slam. It was a high quality affair between the two as Nadal came through in 4 sets, 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2. The game was characterised by sensational rallies from the back of the court with Nadal starting the stronger as Djokovic appeared to be struggling physically in the early stages. Djokovic however upped his game in the 2nd set and played some fabulous tennis to take a 4-1 lead. Nadal, however battled back and at 4-4, the match was interrupted by the rain. When the players returned, the high quality of the match continued as Djokovic dug deep to claim the 2nd set. Djokovic then lost his serve early on in the 3rd set and he seemed unable to recover as Nadal crashed winners past an increasingly tiring Djokovic to mark history for the Spaniard.

This US Open marked Nadal's third grand slam title of the year and has given him an unassailable lead at the top of the rankings. With Nadal playing better than ever, many will fancy him to have a chance of winning all 4 next year. In all, it was an average Open which ended on a high with a superb semi-final between Djokovic and Federer and a high quality final, the best one in a grand slam this year. As this season winds down, the next big tournament on the players mind will be the ATP season ending championships which look set to be as thrilling as last year.