Spaniard Rafa Nadal has secured his 19th Grand Slam title overnight at Flushing Meadows in New York, after a five-set win over Russian Daniil Medvedev.
The match lasted for almost five hours. Nadal had been two sets up, before the 23-year-old Medvedev stage a comeback, with Nadal winning in the end 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4. It was the 33-year-old's fourth title at the US Open.
Championship Point 💪💪
The moment @RafaelNadal captured his 4th title in Flushing Meadows...#USOpen pic.twitter.com/f4HF6pFCEU
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 9, 2019
Speaking after the game at Flushing Meadows, Nadal said, "it's been one of the most emotional nights in my tennis career. It was an amazing final since I had the match under control more or less. Tonight everybody saw why he is number four in the world.
"The way he was able to fight, to change the rhythm of the match, was incredible."
Daniil Medvedev said this after the match, "I want to talk about you guys. Earlier I said it in a bad way, now I mean it in a good way. It's because of your energy I'm here in the final."
"Congratulations to Rafa, 19 Grand Slams is unbelievable, outrageous. I was looking at the screen when they were showing number one, number two, number 19, and I was like, 'if I won, what would they show?'
Thanks @rnadalacademy!!! https://t.co/bZKVQuoiob
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) September 9, 2019
"In the third set, to be honest, I was already thinking about what do I say in the speech, it's going to be in 20 minutes. So I had to fight for every ball and see how far it goes."
It's the 12th Grand Slam in a row to be won be one of Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer.