IT’S NO. 1 VERSUS NO. 2 FOR FIRST TIME IN 15 YEARS

Written by: Staff on 12th September 2011

IT’S NO. 1 VERSUS NO. 2 FOR FIRST TIME IN 15 YEARS

Rafael Nadal of Spain hits a return to Andy Murray of Great Britain during their Semifinal round match on the thirteenth day of the 2011 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA 10 September 2011. The US Open has been extended due to weather for the fourth year in a row and the men's final will now be played on 12 September 2011. EPA/JUSTIN LANE |

Today’s men’s singles final marks the first time since No.1 Pete Sampras defeated No. 2 Michael Chang in 1996 that the top two seeds have reached the US Open men’s singles final. In U.S. Championships/US Open history, the No. 1 seed is 15-13 in finals pitting the top two seeds but just 4-6 in such matchups in the Open Era.

SAME PLACE, DIFFERENT YEAR FOR DJOKOVIC AND NADAL

The 2011 US Open is starting to feel very similar to 2010 for Novak Djokovic. Once again, he warded off two match points to defeat Roger Federer in a five-set semifinal, and once again he’ll face Rafael Nadal in the final.

The Djokovic-Nadal rematch marks the first time since 1987-88 that the same two players have met in the men’s singles final in consecutive years. Then, Ivan Lendl and Mats Wilander split championship titles (with Lendl winning in 1987 and Wilander in 1988). Prior to that, the same two players faced off in back-to-back years each year from 1980 through 1985, though never from 1968 to 1979.

NADAL ROLLING INTO TODAY’S FINAL

Rafael Nadal may have had to play three matches in three days from Thursday through Saturday to reach today’s final, but he enters the match with relatively little wear and tear. In fact, while his opponent today, Novak Djokovic, lost two sets Saturday to Roger Federer, Nadal has lost just two sets in his last 13 US Open matches—one to Djokovic in last year’s men’s singles final and one to Andy Murray in Saturday’s semifinal. Overall, the two enter today’s match with remarkably similar statistics at this year’s US Open (see below), including aces (30 for Djokovic, 25 for Nadal) and winners (163 for Nadal, 159 for Djokovic). The one place they diverge is unforced errors, with Djokovic committing 145 and Nadal just 86.

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