NEW YORK -- Rafael Nadal can wrap up a 16th Grand Slam title and third at the US Open on Sunday but has to find a way past the almost unbreakable spirit of South Africa's Kevin Anderson.
The 31-year-old Spaniard, who captured a 10th Roland Garros in June and was runner-up to Roger Federer at the Australian Open in January, is the overwhelming favourite.
He is the world number one playing in his 23rd Slam final and who won his first major as a 19-year-old at the sixth attempt.
Anderson, two weeks older, is playing in his first final at the Slams after a career stretching 32 majors.
Nadal's 73 career titles also dwarf Anderson's modest three.
But the Spaniard is wary of the challenge posed by 6ft 8in (2.02m) Anderson's deadly serve.
At the US Open, the South African has fired 114 aces and has been broken just five times in 108 service games.
He has also unleashed the tournament's third fastest serve of 137 mph (220.4km/h).
"It's a very tough one. He's a huge player with an unbelievable serve and he plays so well on these kinds of surfaces," said Nadal of a player he has known since he was 12 years old.
"I need to be ready for it. It is probably the most important match for me that remains this year, so I am going to try my best to play my best."
Nadal was champion in New York in 2010 and 2013 while finishing runner-up in 2011.
He was expected to have been pushed hard by 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro, who knocked out Federer in the last eight, when they met in Friday's semi-finals.
But after being out-fought and out-thought in the first set, Nadal switched up his tactics, had the weary Del Potro scrambling around the Arthur Ashe Stadium court and eventually claimed a 15th successive semi-final win at the Slams.
Victory on Sunday would take Nadal to within three majors of Federer's record of 19 and extend the iron grip of Nadal, Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.
Since Federer won his first Wimbledon in 2003, an incredible 52 of the 57 Slams have been claimed by the five men.
- 'Greatest competitor' -
However, with former winners Djokovic, Murray and 2016 champion Wawrinka all not playing this year, opportunity has knocked for Anderson.
"We are accustomed to the few guys doing well, exceptional consistency. It's tough beating those guys because they have had so much experience at this level," said the world number 32.
"Even with them out, there have still been a lot of challenges I've had to face throughout this week. I have faced some of the best tennis players in the world."
Anderson is 0-4 against Nadal, losing their most recent clash in Barcelona this year as the Spaniard swept regally through the European clay court swing.
In those four meetings, the Johannesburg-born Florida-based Anderson has claimed just one set.
In the pair's only clash at the Slams, Nadal won in straight sets in the Australian Open fourth round in 2015.
"Nadal is one of the greatest competitors in sports, period. He's an amazing fighter," said Anderson, the first South African in the US Open final since Cliff Drysdale in 1965.
Johan Kriek remains the last Slam champion from the country, winning the 1981 Australian Open.
"Nadal really controls the court well," Anderson said. "I really need to be dominant and control proceedings as much as possible, because if you let him do it, it's very difficult."
Sunday will be also an emotional occasion for Nadal's coach since childhood, his uncle Toni, who will retire from life on the road at year's end to devote himself to his nephew's academy in Mallorca.
"He lives 300 meters from my house. I train at the academy. He is my uncle and he will continue to give me advice, but he has the right to do what makes him happy," said Nadal.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK -- Sloane Stephens, sidelined for 11 months by a left foot injury until returning in July, captured her first Grand Slam title by routing fellow American Madison Keys 6-3, 6-0 in Saturday's US Open final.
Stephens took a $3.7 million (3.07 million euros) top prize from the biggest victory of her career, pitted against one of her closest friends in the first all-US final since 2002 on the New York hardcourts.
"I should just retire now," Stephens said. "I'll never be able to top this. Talk about a comeback. Things just have to come together and the past six weeks they really have."
With the 15th victory in her past 17 matches, Stephens became only the fifth unseeded player to win a women's Slam title, although Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko managed the feat at this year's French Open.
The only prior unseeded US Open women's champion was Kim Clijsters, who came back from retirement to take the 2009 title.
"It's incredible," Stephens said. "I had surgery January 23. If sone told me then I'd win the US Open, it's imposssible I'd say, absolutely impossible.
"This journey has been incredible and honestly I wouldn't change it for the world."
Stephens made only six unforced errors in the match to 30 for Keys, who had 18 winners to 10 for the champion.
It was the first final set of a US Open women's championship match where the loser didn't take a game since Chris Evert beat Evonne Goolagong 6-3, 6-0 in 1976.
"I didn't play my best tennis today and I'm disappointed in that but Sloane was very supportive and if there's someone I have to lose to today I'm glad it's her. Sloane is truly one of my favorite people.
"If you told me two months ago I'd be holding a US Open finalist's trophy I'd have been really happy and proud of myself."
Presented with the winner's check, Stephens said, 'That's a lot of money. Wow," but then handed the check envelope to best pal Keys, who she sat next to after the victory rather than on opposite sides of the umpire's chair, to take hold of the winner's trophy.
"Maddie is my best friend on tour," Stephens said. "I told her I wished there could have been a draw. I'm going to support her no matter what and she's going to support me no matter what.
"To stand here with her today is incredible -- that's what really friendship is."
Keys, seeded 15th, and 83rd-ranked Stephens each fought off injuries to reach the title showdown.
Stephens returned at Wimbledon and slid to 957th in world rankings before semi-final runs at US Open tuneups in Toronto and Cincinnati, while Keys underwent her second left wrist surgery after the French Open and won a tuneup title at Stanford.
Stephens will jump to 17th in Monday's world rankings while Keys, who took hom $1.825 million as runner-up, will rise to 12th.
In the firset set, Stephens broke to seize a 3-2 lead, Keys swatting a forehand beyond the baseline to surrender the game, and Stephens broke again when Keys send a backhand long to take the set after 30 minutes.
Keys made 17 unforced errors in the opening set to just two for Stephens, both in the last game.
In the second set, Stephens broke with a forehand crosscourt winner past on outstretched Keys to grab a 2-0 edge, then broke again on a double fault for a 4-0 lead, Keys swatting the ball with her left hand as it bounced back at her.
Keys forced triple break point in the fifth game but Stephens saved them all and held to 5-0.
The end came after 61 minutes on Stephens' third break and championship point when Keys netted a forehand.
Hands on hips, Stephens simply stood for a few seconds with a stunned expression, then smiled and made a tiny fist pump before going to the net to share a teary-eyed hug with Keys.
Neither Keys, 22, nor Stephens, 24, had ever reached a Slam final, only the seventh time in the Open Era (since 1967) two first-timers met for a women's Slam title.
But it was the second time in three years it happened at Arthur Ashe Stadium after Flavia Pennetta beat Roberta Vinci in 2015's all-Italian final.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK - Denis Shapovalov may not be old enough to drink in New York but is quickly becoming the toast of the Big Apple and the 18-year-old Canadian will again have a chance to light up the U.S. Open when he takes on Briton Kyle Edmund.
After knocking off eighth seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the Canadian giant killer returns to the Arthur Ashe Stadium court chasing a place in the fourth round.
Shapovalov's hit list includes back-to-back wins over U.S. Open champions Rafa Nadal and Juan Martin De Potro at the recent Rogers Cup in Montreal, and the Canadian will now try to add the 42nd ranked Edmund to his list of scalps.
Another of the tennis young guns in Croatia's Borna Coric, who took down fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the second round, finds 28th seeded South African Kevin Anderson standing between him and a fourth round berth.
Against some criticism, Maria Sharapova will be back on Arthur Ashe for the third straight match where she will face American wild card Sofia Kenin.
Playing her first grand slam since returning from a 15-month doping ban, Sharapova has enjoyed wild fan support every time she steps on to the court but not everyone is happy to see the five-time winner back in action.
Fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki ripped U.S. Open organisers for putting her on an outside court while Sharapova soaked up the applause on Arthur Ashe.
"When you look at centre court, and I understand completely the business side of things, but someone who comes back from a drugs sentence, performance-enhancing drugs, and then all of a sudden gets to play every single match on centre court, I think that's a questionable thing to do," said Wozniacki. "It doesn't set a good example."
There will be no complaints from the home crowd about seeing ninth seed Venus Williams or 10th seed John Isner on the Arthur Ashe stage.
Williams, a twice U.S. Open champion, takes on Greece's Maria Sakkari before turning over the spotlight to the big-hitting Isner, who goes up against Germany's 23rd seed Mischa Zverev. (Reporting by Steve Keating in New York. Editing by Ian Ransom)
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Russian teen Andrey Rublev spent years beating his head on the walls of success before finding the door this year and smashing it down Thursday at the US Open.
The 19-year-old from Moscow advanced to a Grand Slam third round for the first time by shocking Bulgarian seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
Rublev, ranked 53rd, advanced to a last-32 date with Bosnian Damir Dzumhur after dispatching a solid contender in Dimitrov, who was coming off his biggest career title two weeks ago at Cincinnati, for his first win over a top-10 rival.
It's a far cry from the kid who struggled in the junior ranks last year until tossing out his coach and support staff and starting over.
"The way I was working, it was not the way to be pro tennis player," Rublev said.
"I change the team completely. In that moment starts the real work. And now I improve in this year. I improve much more than in all my tennis career."
Rublev compared his efforts to finding a door to unlock progress after banging on walls in frustration.
"When I was junior, I was working hard. I was not doing some bad things. It's just this work was not for the pro," he said.
"Let's say you have a door and you can open the door and I was trying to open this door from the wall, you know? It was hitting the wall. You can work so hard like this, but you going to only get worse and worse."
"It was not that I was not working or I was lazy. It's just with this work is not going to come results. You going to only be worse and worse."
Rublev won his first ATP title in July at Umag, becoming the first lucky loser to capture a tour crown since Rajeev Ram in 2009 at Newport.
The Russian had lucky rituals in Croatia during his breakthrough week and has one this week in New York, eating at the same Japanese restaurant ahead of matches.
"We went to the same restaurant for dinner before first match and before this match. So two days in a row I went in the same restaurant," Rublev said.
"Tomorrow I'm not playing, so I can go somewhere else."
Rublev was down a break in each of the first two sets against Dimitrov but battled back to claim both.
"I was just thinking to try to focus, try to fight no matter even if I am losing with a break," Rublev said.
"And in the end, I was little bit lucky. I make a good few returns. I hit maybe few points close to the line.
"My style is just to play aggressive, try to play my rhythm because I have quite well rhythm that I can play, compete with many good guys."
He might just get his chance to find out with Belgian ninth seed David Goffin a possible fourth-round foe and top-ranked Rafael Nadal a potential quarter-final opponent.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK -- Maria Sharapova proved she will be someone to contend with for the U.S. Open crown after the Russian wild card outlasted second seed Simona Halep, 6-4 4-6 6-3, on Monday, to get the year's final grand slam off to an electrifying start.
Still shaking off the rust from a 15-month doping ban and a string of nagging injuries, the 30-year-old Sharapova needed all her skill, determination and two hours and 44 minutes to snatch victory in front of a packed Arthur Ashe stadium.
The victory becomes the highlight of what has been a torturous comeback for the former world number one, who returned to tennis in April after being banned after testing positive for metabolic modulator meldonium at last year's Australian Open.
Her progress has been slowed by a thigh injury that forced her out of the Italian Open in May and more recently left arm issues in that took her out of the second round at Stanford earlier this month.
However, there was no hint of distress against an in-form Halep as she improved her record to 7-0 against the feisty Romanian in an opening round clash that was played with the intensity more befitting of a final.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
