In many ways, it was a remarkable title for Rafael Nadal - just one year before, 2009, the Spaniard had suffered tendonitis in both knees which forced him to miss Wimbledon and aside from the grand slams in 2010, his tournament record for that year was not fantastic. However, he went into the US Open as the number one seed and favorite.

First four rounds - a simple start:

Nadal began his tournament smoothly; unlike his Wimbledon that year in which he was pushed to five sets in two of his first three matches, he did not drop a set to any of his first four opponents. These were Teymuraz Gabashbili, Denis Istomin, Gilles Simon, and fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez who was the the 23rd seed. Many noted the improvement in Nadal's serve he demonstrated during the tournament - he averaged 120 MPH throughout but this was interspersed with around 135 MPH first serves also, which resulted in lots of aces and free points.

Quarter and Semi finals - breezing through:

In the quarter finals, Nadal faced off against old rival Fernando Verdasco, the eighth seed. Their most recent meeting in a grand slam had been the famous semi final match at the Australian Open, which went to five sets and took over five hours, but it wasn't to be a classic rematch. Nadal easily defeated his compatriot in straight sets, in which the top seed was only broken once. It was a similar story in his following match against Russian Mikhail Youzhny, somewhat of a surprise semi finalist and the 12th seed. Nadal had little trouble winning the match 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to set up a final against Novak Djokovic, his toughest test of the tournament.

Final - no real competition:

Nadal began the match as he had the rest of the tournament, winning the first set 6-4. Djokovic managed to become the first and only man to take a set off of Nadal during that US Open by winning the second, but Nadal seized the title with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory.

What it meant:

This victory was clearly a special one for Nadal, as he fell to the floor in celebration and couldn't stop smiling all through the trophy ceremony. His win meant he was the first man to win grand slams on three different surfaces in a year, and also ensured him the year end world number one ranking.

This year, Nadal will be aiming to win a third US Open title to add to his collection. His year has been rather dismal but he insists he feels positive on the court and is playing better now than he has all season so far - what's to say the "comeback king" can't surprise us all one more time?