US Open champion: after an epic battle, Nadal achieved his 19th Grand Slam and knocks on the doors of eternity

The gladiator against the dancer. The worker before the violinist. The beast of sharp fangs in front of the gazelle. The muscle versus elegance. The hot mind in the face of coldness. The physical effort against toe slippage.
Rafael Nadal he built his impressive professional career listening to the apparent differences with
Roger Federer. Many of these statements were close to reality, of course, but not with the meaning that some, with malice, wanted to give. The story does not lie. Beyond tastes, there is something irrefutable: Spanish is an indisputable legend. In that context, there was something that still distanced him miles from the Swiss: the amount of trophies of
Grand slam. Along the way, not even the most optimistic of Mallorcan fans suspected that Federer's record was attainable. However, in New York and at age 33, Nadal knocked on the doors of heaven. Champion of
US Open by beating an imposing
Daniil Medvedev (Russian, 23, 5th seeded) by 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6 and 6-4, in an epic battle of 4h49m, he got his 19th
major and there was only a big shout to match the great Roger.

Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Uma Thurman, Ralph Lauren, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany, Manu Ginobili, among other celebrities, illustrated the boxes of Arthur Ashe, the world's largest tennis stadium – for 23,771 spectators. But the show started by offering the left-hander from Manacor. And he did it from the very beginning of the game: when the second point was barely played, he won the goal in a magical way, revoking the racket so that the ball traveled from outside to inside the court (passing through the side of the net) to itching in the deepest, freaking out to the public. Anyway, Medvedev, who arrived at the final in
Flushing Meadows As the player with the most victories in the year (50), he clung to that mood boost and relied on his strategy. He managed to annoy Rafa with the reverse setback, a shot, usually, executed from top to bottom that when itched did not rise, preventing Nadal from responding with its usual effect and revolutions.

Medvedev had a break point in the first game, but did not take advantage of it. But the Russian, with a frown, kept insisting and hammering, had a second break in the third game and that time he did (2-1). But, of course, in front of him was Nadal, the man who demoralizes even the winner of the Fat Christmas. The current number 2 of the ranking recovered the break (2-2). The shots of the player trained by Carlos Moya began to flow with more pepper; the impacts began to sound different, cleaner and more hurtful. The Russian began to doubt and make unforced errors. In a relatively even development, Nadal again broke Medvedev's service at the moment of truth, in the twelfth game, to close the first set in his favor (7-5). Tight fist, relief, celebration in your corner. Nadal was aware that to try to frustrate Medvedev it was very valuable to win the first set.

Predisposed to fight, Medvedev tried to stay in his plan, but for that he needed to have the fuel load on his body. And yet, on the cement of the central stadium there was no less data linked to the physical wear of one and the other. In this US Open, the Muscovite added three more hours of action than its rival before the definition: 15 hours and 15 minutes against 12 hours and 18 minutes of Nadal, who played one less game (in the 2nd round he did not show up, due to injury, the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis). Nadal reached the final having played 16 sets against 22 of the Russian. And, something else, because since the last Wimbledon, Rafa added nine games against the 22 of Medvedev.

Nadal put the debutante in trouble at the end of Grand Slam from the first photographs of the second set. In the fourth game, Madvedev, trained by Frenchman Gilles Cervara, took 0-40, but survived and sustained it (2-2). Likewise, it was a foretaste of what would come. Aggressive, focused and with his unparalleled energy at its best, Nadal continued to harm Medvedev. He even impressed by uploading with creativity and effectiveness to the network (he won 9 of the eleven times he chose to advance to fly). That Nadal would again break the service of the Russian was a sung circumstance. And the impact came in the sixth game (4-2). The twelve-time Roland Garros winner moved the foundations of his rival to whiplash, taking time and suffocating him, until disturbed and crazy. The 6-3, with high precision in the service, left Nadal a step away from the glory.

Knowing that the last Russian to achieve the US Open had been
Marat Safin In 2000, Medvedev knew that to win the final to Nadal he had to climb Everest, but he was ready for the effort. The former number 1 broke the service again; It was in the fifth game (the Spanish went ahead 3-2). From there, everything made suspect that the triumph of the Mallorcan would be realized soon. The tournament staff, including, began preparing for the assembly of the awards ceremony. However, unexpectedly, Nadal began to fail, lost depth and Medvedev, who was already heading to the airport, broke the service to Rafa (3-3), with much self-esteem. Under pressure, Nadal followed the exchange of blows with the robotic Medvedev and created two chances of breaking with the score 4-4, but failed (the second, unbeatable, with a smash to the network) and the Russian, who seemed in the Bottom of the sea, went afloat (5-4). With two and a half hours of play, the tension spilled over the stadium. Medvedev, well planted and with nothing to lose, risked more, used the energy transmitted by the public (now yes, after several games with boos) to launch shotguns. The additional impulse led him to continue pushing Medvedev, he was left with three set points and, in the second, hit a blow on the table, winning the partial 7-5.

The exhaustion began to make a dent in the players. But neither of them spared any effort. Pride drove them. In the fourth set, being 1-0 down, Nadal took 0-30 and 30-40, but had the temper to get out of that awkward moment (1-1). Each one sustained his service, but Medvedev – the ice man – continued to raise his level, punishing the ball as an asshole, reached the tenth game and broke Nadal's serve to win the fourth set (6-4). The show broke out on the stands. The bustle of
Arthur Ashe He turned it into a boiler. In a madness

With laser shots, Medvedev tried not to succumb to the pressure and continued to get Nadal in trouble. But the latter, the man who always has a card in his sleeve, replaced his lack of oxygen wisely and broke the Russian's serve in the fifth game (3-2). He defended his service (4-2) and immediately knocked out the resistance of Medvedev (5-2). With more than 20,000 people in a state of absolute euphoria and with the New York clock at 20.50, Nadal took off to win … but if some suspense was missing from the match, the Mallorcan lost his serve (the last point, with double foul): 5-3. Medvedev took out and Nadal had a match point, but the Russian saved him with a parallel setback. A second point came for the championship for Manacor and again he could not specify it; Medvedev went to rest 5-4 below. And there was another serve time for Nadal: it would be the last one, although he had to overcome a break point. With 11 minutes left for the five hours of the game, the unforgettable battle ended with a long shot from Medvedev. Nadal, accomplice of the epic, cried with joy.

Dozens of times the physical damage put Nadal's career in check. The most prominent specialists ventured that it would not be possible for him to reach the age of 30 in a position to play at a high level. But the Spaniard, one of the most extraordinary competitors in history, was patient, wise and always found solutions to recover, again and again. With his fourth title in New York (he matched the line of
John McEnroe in the tournament), he reached the 19 Grand Slam trophies, leaving only one of a brand that seemed inaccessible, that of Federer. But for Nadal, it is known, there are no impossible. And it already knocks on the doors of eternity.

ALSO