THE SPANIARD Rafael Nadal joined the ranks of the all-time greats of tennis after beating Novak Djokovic to win the US Open and complete his set of Grand Slam titles. Nadal, 24, won a rain-interrupted final 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2 at Flushing Meadows in New York. Nadal's first US Open victory takes him to nine Grand Slam titles. Hence, he becomes only the seventh man in history to complete the set of majors -- Wimbledon, the French, Australian and US Opens. Nadal joins Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Don Budge and Fred Perry in having swept the board, and also becomes the first man since Laver in 1969 to win the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same year. "That's more than I dreamt," Nadal said at the trophy presentation. "It's just amazing to be here in this final, just to arrive in this final. To have this trophy here in a few seconds, with my hands, is going to be unbelievable." Neither the New York rain, which had seen the final postponed on Sunday and then interrupted for nearly two hours on Monday, nor Djokovic could halt the Spaniard's relentless march to the one title that still eluded him. There was a case to be made for Djokovic going into the final, not least because he had defeated five-time champion Roger Federer in a dramatic semi-final and had a 7-3 record against Nadal on hard courts, but the world number one is different in the major finals. Monday's encounter began in pulsating fashion, with the first five games taking over half an hour as both men pounded away from the baseline. Djokovic was the slower out of the blocks and looked exhausted after the lengthy first point of the match, hinting at an ankle problem after dropping serve straight away. Djokovic was starting to dictate with his forehand as he had against Federer and he consolidated the break to move 4-1 clear, only to miss a game point on his next serve and allow Nadal back into it with a heavy backhand on his third break point. Suddenly, the momentum was with the man from Majorca and he looked ready to press home that advantage at 4-4, 30-30, only for the widely predicted rain to start falling. Nadal created opportunity after opportunity to increase his lead, but when a wayward backhand flew long in game eight he had missed 17 of 21 break points. It left him needing to serve out the set and Djokovic made what would be his final push as he attempted to recover the break, but Nadal held his nerve like a champion at 5-4, 30- 30, with an ace and a service winner. After three hours and 43 minutes, Nadal finally stood at championship point, and his place in history was secured when Djokovic sent a forehand long, prompting the world number one to fall to his knees in celebration while his family and friends leapt to their feet in the stands. On the other hand, defending champion Kim Clijsters thrashed Vera Zvonareva in 59 minutes to win her third US Open title at Flushing Meadows. The 27-year-old Belgian, who won last year following a spell in retirement, defeated Russian seventh seed Zvonareva 6-2 6-1. In a desperately one-sided final, Clijsters broke twice in each set. Clijsters has now claimed all three of her Grand Slam titles in New York after winning her first in 2005. "It's been an incredible year, being back in the Open and for the first time I'm able to defend my title," said Clijsters. Clijsters had lost her two previous meetings with Zvonareva, including a recent defeat at Wimbledon as the Russian made it through to her first Grand Slam final. "In a way I was excited to play her in the final here just to try and get that revenge," said Clijsters. "The one at Wimbledon was one of the most disappointing losses that I've dealt with so far in my career. "But today I was able to mix up my game a little more and I think that just got her thinking even more, besides the fact that she was probably thinking about the occasion, where she was playing and being in another final, which is always something that does have an effect on the way you feel." Zvonareva had admitted that her swift loss to Serena Williams at the All England Club had been an experience she failed to handle, and more was expected of her in her second major final. However, after a solid enough start to Saturday's showdown the Russian slipped behind with a double fault and three errors in game six, and Clijsters simply powered away
