Rafael Nadal moved to within three Grand Slam titles of Roger Federer after notching up his 16th major at the US Open last night.
The 31-year-old Spaniard crushed South Africa's Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-4 6-4 in a one-sided final which lasted two hours and 27 minutes.
In that time, Nadal didn’t face a single break point and forced Anderson to play some of his best tennis just to stay in touch.
At 6 ft 8, the South African relies heavily on his serve, however his powerful delivery was placed under constant pressure by Nadal.
After struggling in the opening rounds, the Spaniard has improved throughout the fortnight to win his first hard-court title since January 2014.
"It's just unbelievable what happened this year," said Nadal, who was ranked nine in the world at the end of last year.
"After a couple of years with some troubles, injuries, sometimes playing not good - since the beginning of the season it has been very, very emotional."
Nadal back to his best
Nadal is also in pole position to claim the end of year world number one ranking, after moving nearly 2,000 points clear of Federer.
Since an agonising five-set defeat to Lucas Pouille here last year, Nadal has recalibrated his explosive game which had shown signs of going stale with age.
However, the addition of compatriot and former world number one Carlos Moya to his support team appears to have worked wonders.
Nadal’s serve is less predictable, his backhand is flatter and now zips through the court, while his trademark forehand is an imposing weapon once again.
Those factors, combined with the Spaniard's relentlessness and determination to fight for every point, make it easy to see why romped away with the title.
For Anderson, appearing in his first major final, his hopes were always going to rest on his imposing serve and potent forehand, and whether he could blast Nadal off the court consistently to win three sets.
Anderson under the cosh from the off
The signs were ominous early on when Anderson saved three break points in a prolonged and draining service game at 1-1.
After 37 minutes, the pair had played just five games, however Anderson clung on to take a 3-2 lead.
Eventually, though, Nadal’s pressure told, and the Spaniard converted his fifth break point for 4-3 when Anderson dragged a backhand wide.
The Spaniard sealed the opening set two games later with another break of serve, closing it out with a wicked cross-court forehand and deft finish at the net.
To his credit, Anderson tried everything. He mixed up his game with some forays forward, where he is an imposing figure, and continued to jeer himself on when others may have faded.
Nadal remains relentless
Even so, Nadal made another decisive move in the sixth game of the second set, breaking Anderson again with another volley winner.
The Spaniard’s level never dropped and his dominance was quickly converted into a two-set lead.
Anderson lost his serve again in the opening game of the third set but dug his heels in, before forcing Nadal to serve for the match at 5-4.
In what proved to be the final game of the contest, the South African took Nadal to deuce for the first time.
Yet, Nadal held his nerve and wrapped up his 16th major with a routine serve and volley - just another trick in his vast repertoire.