Rafael Nadal vs Kevin Anderson (6-3, 6-3, 6-4)
Rafael Nadal might be the King of Clay, but he also knows how to get the job done on the hard court.
With Roger Federer and his other online betting rivals out of the picture, the Spanish tennis maestro breezed through the finals to claim his third US Open title and 16th major trophy – leaving him only three behind Fed on the men’s all-time grand slam list.
His battle with Kevin Anderson was supposed to be a treat for live betting. However, as sports betting pundits predicted, it turned out to be a one-sided affair with Nadal dominating every aspect of the two-and-a-half-hour final.
Anderson, at No.32, was the lowest-ranked US Open finalist since the computer rankings began, but with a tournament-leading 114 aces, he was expected to make life a little harder for Nadal.
Nevertheless, Nadal displayed his absolute superiority, neutralising the South African’s biggest weapon by standing way back to receive his monster serves. He even broke Anderson’s serve four times while never facing a break point himself.
The first set started with Nadal in total control, pressuring Anderson to attack the net more instead of relying on his big hits. This situation played well for the Spaniard as Anderson was never really the tactician when battling at the net, as proven by his 23 unforced errors in the opening frame.
The succeeding sets followed the same pattern, with Anderson getting mixed results. It also didn’t help him that Nadal was sharp in the game, sending ferocious forehands and two-handed backhands to dictate the pace and close out the match comfortably.
Post-match statistics also tell how dominant Nadal was in the match. He clearly won the battle at the net, winning on all of his 16 trips there as compared to Anderson who finished with 16 points out of 34 in the category.
Anderson had more aces and winners in the match, but his 40 unforced errors doomed him against Nadal who was close to flawless with just 11 unforced errors.
The win further cements Nadal’s position as the No.1 male player in the world. The US Open title is also his second of the year after the French Open, splitting the four grand slams with Federer who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
For Anderson, he still has every reason to hold his head high after becoming the first South African to reach the tournament championship in the Open Era. This was also his grand slam debut, never having been past the quarterfinals in any major competition.
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