• Chronicle: Rafael Nadal deploys all his mysticism and achieves his 19th Grand Slam in New York
  • Opinion: Rafael Nadal and the reincarnation of The Little Prince, by Emilio Sánchez Vicario
  • Opinion: inexhaustible energy, commitment and maximum conviction, by José Perlas
  • Album: All the Grand Slams by Rafa Nadal
  • Album: Many celebrities in the stands

When Nadal goes up to the Empire State today as a winner of the US Open, he will be closer than ever to Roger Federer . When the Balearic won his first Roland Garros in 2005, the Swiss already had four big ones in his backpack. With the conquest of Flushing Meadows, he placed with 19, just one of Basel's genius in the race for being the male tennis player with the most Grand Slams.

Since Federer won the Australian Open in 2018, to date his last major, Nadal has added three crowns, two Roland Garros and this US Open. The Balearic is placed to a single bite of the 20 of the Swiss and extends the distances with Novak Djokovic (16) in this pulse of legends . The Serbian had won four of the last five Grand Slams, but a left shoulder injury has stopped him dry in New York. "It's a motivation, but not an obsession," he insists.

Time plays in favor of Nadal and Djokovic. Federer is already 38 years old and since he turned 30 he has won four big ones, while in the previous eight seasons he raised 16 with a mark from another planet: 23 semifinals in a row. With five years less, Nadal (33) has already won five majors since he changed the decade and links seven semifinals, the best streak of his career. Djokovic (32) already equals the Swiss four in the thirties.

Nadal has added 12 of his 19 Grand Slam in Roland Garros . Of the 95 matches in Parisian clay, he has only lost two. And never in a final. Paris is your private preserve. There he has won the six times he has measured with Federer (four in the final) and in six of seven to Djokovic (two finals), which can at least boast of being one of the only two players who have won the Balearic in Roland Garros It was in the quarterfinals of 2015. The other was Robin Söderling in the second round of 2009. His balance in the French capital is 93-2 .

The weight of the clay is indisputable in the winners of Rafa Nadal. There he has won 59 of the 83 titles of his career . In terms of Grand Slam, it represents 63.2%, a proportion almost identical to that of Djokovic in fast track (62.5%). There the versatility of Federer reigns : 11 in cement, 8 in grass and one in brick dust . He is the only one who has won at least five times three of the four Grand Slam.

The fast track punishes Nadal's knees a lot, but he already has five big ones on this surface. With this there are already four US Open (2010, 2013, 2017, 2019) and, like the three of Djokovic (2011, 2015, 2018), all have arrived after Federer conquered the last of his five in a row in 2008. In the It was Open, Nadal ties with John McEnroe and is only behind Connors, Sampras and the Swiss (5).

The Mallorcan lives a good time. It is true that he had never taken so long to win his first title of the year as in this 2019, but the data has another face: he has reached at least the semifinal in 10 of the 11 tournaments he has played . And that includes the big four, something I haven't achieved since 2008.

He contrasts with his balance in the 2018 Grand Slam: in the Australian Open he retired for a right thigh injury when he caressed the semifinal, in Wimbledon he did not sentence Djokovic when he could and in the US Open he retired in the semifinals against Del Potro with a right knee injury that put an end to his season.

Nadal, like Federer and maybe soon Djokovic has entered that phase where he needs to lighten the calendar. If two years ago he competed in 19 tournaments, in 2019 he has 11 and has already hinted that it will be dosed until the end of the course. However, the Big Three continues to dominate the Grand Slam. The last 12 have been distributed: five Nadal, four Djokovic and three Federer. In the next Australian Open you will have the opportunity and match the Swiss .

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Rafael Nadal
  • Roger Federer
  • Novak Djokovic
  • tennis
  • US Open
  • Roland Garros
  • Wimbledon
  • Australian Open
  • sports
  • Graphics

US Open Nadal's long idyll with New York

US Open The successors of Nadal, Federer and Djokovic still do not stretch

US Open Djokovic's uncertain future in the last big of the year