A bridge too far for Kevin Anderson

The win gave the 31-year-old Spaniard his 16th Grand Slam crown, the second-most of all time behind only Roger Federer, who won his 19th earlier this year at Wimbledon.

Nadal is now one of only six players in the Open era to win at least three US Open men’s singles championships, along with Federer, Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors, who have five each; John McEnroe, who has four; and Ivan Lendl, who won three.

"So very happy the way that I played, happy the way that I managed the pressure, and the way that I was competing during the whole event. Playing better or worse, the competitive spirit have been there in a very positive way all the time."

"Kevin was trying to play aggressive during the whole match," Nadal said. "I think I was serving solid until the last two games that I was more nervous and I served worse. The rest of the match I think I served solid with good percentage and having taken advantage all the time.

"I don't know if is him or me, is a combination of both things always But I think I played the right match, the match that I have to play. I put a lot of balls in. I let him play all the time, and that was my goal. To try to have long rallies, to try to have long points, because he will try to play short."

Kevin Anderson had this to say after the matc