Three-time US Open champion Rafael Nadal became the youngest player to achieve the career Golden Slam after claiming the US Open title for the first time in 2010.
Nadal also became the first man to win majors on clay, grass, and hard courts in the same year, and the first to win the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in the same year since Rod Laver in 1969.
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Despite breaking so many records during the US Open 2010, Rafael Nadal recollected his US Open 2013 triumph and calls it as his best memory from the luxurious event in New York.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion said in a press conference at the US Open 2019, “I think the match I have the best memory of probably is the final of 2013. It was an important victory for me after a big and long injury in 2012. Being able to win a Grand Slam here on hard courts again was so special for me.”
After a disappointing Wimbledon Championships 2012, Rafael Nadal withdrew from the 2012 Olympics due to tendinitis in his knee. The injury subsequently led him to pull out of both the Rogers Cup and the Cincinnati Masters. The Mallorcan later withdrew from the rest of the 2012 season as he felt he still was not healthy enough to compete.
During the 2013 season, Rafael Nadal was dropped out of the top 4 in ATP rankings for the first time since 2005, after he withdrew from the Australian Open. Nadal also saw a first-round defeat at the Wimbledon Championships 2013. It was also for the first time when he had ever lost in the opening round of a Grand Slam.
However, the Spaniard came back to the hardcourt season, winning the Rogers Cup and Cincinnati Masters. He ended the North American hard-court with claiming his second US Open title, defeating his arch-rival Novak Djokovic in the finals.
With this victory, Nadal became only the third player to win the Canada Masters, Cincinnati Masters, and the US Open in the same calendar year.
