NEW YORK – In the end, it was Novak Djokovic who came closer to the Grand Slam than Serena Williams.
Sunday evening the world’s top-ranked player won a rain-delayed men’s final against Roger Federer, a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 triumph that gave the 28-year-old Serbian his third major title of the year and 10th of his career.
Retrospectively, it was Williams, the women’s No. 1, who came within two matches of winning all four majors this year, losing in a semifinal here Friday. Djokovic, however, finishes the Grand Slam season with his trio of major titles and a runner-up performance at the French Open, where he was beaten by Stan Wawrinka.
Djokovic won the second U.S. Open title of his career and denied Federer, 34, an 18th major and first since Wimbledon 2012.
Federer dropped a third consecutive major final to Djokovic, having lost in the Wimbledon final in 2014 and again this year.
Djokovic becomes the first player since Federer himself to win three out of four majors in a single year, last done in 2007. He evens his head-to-head record against the Swiss to 21-21, and 3-3 at the Open, including their last three matches here.
Sunday was made difficult for both players, as a consistent rain fell from just shy of match time, 4 p.m. in New York, until 6:30. Players took the court after 7, with much cooler conditions than they had played in so far here, the drop in temperature favoring Djokovic’s grinding, never-say-miss game.
Federer had been broken only twice in six matches and won 28 consecutive sets over 11 matches since losing the Wimbledon final a couple of months ago. Yet Djokovic won on Federer’s service games twice in the first set, clinching it on his own serve 6-4 when Federer put a backhand into the net.
In the second, the two traded holds throughout before Federer had two set points at 4-5 on Djokovic’s serve, the Serbian saving both of them as the crowd grew increasingly vocal for the de facto favorite Federer. But two games later Federer would convert, sending Arthur Ashe Stadium into a frenzy, Djokovic hitting a backhand wide on set point number four.
The match tied at a set apiece, it settled into a comfortable pattern of holds. Federer had the first break point chance of the third at 3-4 Djokovic serving, but after Novak bunted away the opportunity, it was Federer who cracked, missing a backhand wide and forehand long to allow Djokovic to serve for the third, which he did.
Djokovic then ran away with the match, breaking in the opening game of the fourth set and then never looking back.
Federer was playing in his first U.S. Open final since 2009, when he fell to Juan Martin del Potro. It was just his third major championship match in three years, having been bothered by back problems for much of 2012 and 2013, when he sank to as low as No. 8 in the world.
Djokovic’s season comes very close to his historic effort in 2011. The win moves him to 63-5 on the year as well as to seventh among Grand Slam winners at 10 titles, tied with Bill Tilden. In 2011, Djokovic was 70-6 overall, winning 10 titles. The Open was his seventh title of this year and 55th of his career.
The win also embeds Djokovic further as the world No. 1, both in the rankings and in the recent past. He’s reached 16 of the last 21 major finals (since the 2010 U.S. Open) and has won four majors in the last six played.
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