To hear Rafael Nadal say it, tennis remains a very simple game. It doesn't matter if the Spaniard is sulking after a five-set loss or if he's wearing a smile as wide as his biceps. Tennis, to Nadal, is uncomplicated.
After his 2015 US Open five-set loss to Italian Fabio Fognini, the Spaniard remarked, "The sport for me is simple, no? If you are playing with less confidence and you are hitting balls without creating the damage on the opponent that I believe I should do, then they have the possibility to attack.
"I want the defense, defense a little bit more longer, and hit easier winners. Have been little bit tough for me to hit winners tonight. But that's it. Not a big story. Is just improve small things that make a big difference."
Nadal reflected on his quarterfinal win against Russian Andrey Rublev: "The strategy is always the same. That is play very well. If you play well, you have good feelings, and you can look for strategies, or you can look for the small things that you can adjust."
The two-time US Open champion (2010, 2013) has certainly made it all look very simple this fortnight, as he's marched his way into his fourth US Open final. The Spaniard will go for his third US Open crown on Sunday afternoon against South African Kevin Anderson, who will be playing in his first Grand Slam final.
Nadal has been broken only seven times in six matches thus far, and he's returned better than anyone in the draw, breaking his opponents 37 times.
"Today was the day to play the best match of the tournament," Nadal said on Friday after improving to 9-5 against Juan Martin del Potro in their head-to-head with a semifinal win. "I wake up today and say to myself, 'Today is the day that I'll play.' I need to play with the right energy, and I need to increase the level of my game. And I know that. A lot of times I know that and didn't happen, but today it happened."
Perhaps Nadal's attitude toward his profession is merely an extension of his daily life. The left-hander lives in the same town and same island in which he grew up, Manacor, Mallorca, Spain.
He's had the same coach since he was 4 years old, uncle Toni Nadal. And Rafa relaxes the same way you and your neighbor might spend your weekends: spending time with family and fishing and golfing.
In May, instead of ruing his only clay-court loss of the season against Dominic Thiem in Rome, Nadal was already looking forward to those leisure activities.
"Is normal that one day you don't feel not perfect, and if you are unlucky on that day that you don't feel that well the opponent play unbelievable, so then tomorrow I will be in Mallorca fishing or playing golf or doing another thing," Nadal said in between laughs. "That's it."
Conventional wisdom says the US Open men's final will also be a simple affair for the 15-time Grand Slam champion. Nadal leads his head-to-head against Anderson, 4-0, and has won nine of their 10 sets.
He will be playing in his 23rd Grand Slam title match and third of the season. He fell to Roger Federer in Australia but beat Stan Wawrinka for his 10th Roland Garros title. Anderson, meanwhile, hadn't played in a Grand Slam semifinal before this fortnight.
Hard-court finals, however, have not been easy for Rafa. The Spaniard last won a hard-court crown in January 2014, in Doha, when he beat Frenchman Gael Monfils. Since then, Nadal has played in 34 hard-court events and eight hard-court finals but has dropped them all.
He hasn't played Anderson in any of those title matches. But in March for the Acapulco crown, Nadal played American Sam Querrey, who, at 6-foot-6, has a big game that could be considered a clone of Anderson's. Querrey won the final in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6.
"I am here in the final. Is a great result for me already," Nadal said. "Last match against a very tough opponent, and I need to be ready for it. Is probably the most important match for me that [remainder] of this year, so I'm going to try my best to play my best."
