US Open 2013: "It's much more than I ever thought" - Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal with the US Open title after beating Novak Djokovic in the final

New York, Sep 10 (IANS) World No.2 Rafael Nadal of Spain said his 13th Grand Slam title was much more than what he ever thought when he started playing.

The Spaniard defeated top-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to claim his second US Open title here on Monday. It was the 13th overall Grand Slam title for the 27-year-old Nadal.

“Let me enjoy today. For me, it’s much more than what I ever thought, what I ever dreamed,” Nadal told reporters.

“I’m going to keep doing my things to have more chances in the future to be competitive and to produce more chances to win the tournament like this one.”

It was the 37th meeting in their rivalry, which is the most in the Open Era between two male players. Nadal had won 21 of the previous 36 matches.

Nadal now has eight French Open titles, two Wimbledon titles, two US Open titles and an Australian Open title amongst his 60 career titles.

Nadal had completed a career Grand Slam in New York in 2010, but he ruled out winning all the four majors in the same calendar year. The feat has been achieved only by Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969).

“To win all four Grand Slams in one year I think today is impossible for anyone. That’s my feeling,” said Nadal.

“Today, the best players are there all the time, so to win a tournament like this you have to win against Roger (Federer), against David (Ferrer), against Andy (Murray), against Novak.

“These players are not losing in the early rounds, so that makes it impossible (to) be 100 percent in every tournament. So when your level is a little bit lower, you will lose against these players 100 percent,” he added.

It has been a great turn around for Nadal, whose season started in February after a seven-month injury lay-off that saw him missing the 2012 US Open, London Olympics and the Australian Open earlier this year.

But since his comeback, the Spaniard is on song and has won 10 titles since then.

“I never thought something like this could happen, so excited to be back on tour trying to be competitive. But I never thought about competing for all what I competed for this year,” he said.

“All the Masters 1000s, the Grand Slams. So it is just more than a dream for me and I’m very happy for everything. I feel very lucky about what happened since I came back.

“It’s true that I worked, but even like this you need luck to be where I am today.”

Nadal is now four behind the record of 17 Grand Slam titles held by Roger Federer and one short of Pete Sampras‘s 14.

“I said that when I had few Slams less, but it’s true. Only thing I can say is the same like I do every time. I’m going to keep working hard. I’m going to keep doing my things to have more chances in the future to be competitive and to give me more chances to win the tournaments like this one.

“So that’s what I’m going to try. Then you never know when that starts, when that finishes, but 13 is an amazing number,” he said.