After a career Grand Slam, Rafael Nadal is tipped to be greatest player ever

AFTER securing a career Grand Slam at age 24 - champion at three consecutive major tournaments and nine overall - Rafael Nadal is now aiming to become the greatest tennis player in history.

• Rafael Nadal celebrates his US Open triumph Pictures: PA

In a performance which approached perfection for stretches - he played more than 40 points in a row without an unforced error - Nadal beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in a US Open final on Monday that was filled with fantastic shotmaking by both men and interrupted by a thunderstorm a day after it was postponed by rain.

"For the first time in my career, I played a very, very good match in this tournament," said Nadal, who never had been past the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows. "I played my best match in the US Open at the most important moment."

The Spaniard is already more than halfway to Federer's career record of 16 Grand Slam titles, and already past Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi and Ivan Lendl. Nadal said: "Talk about if I am better or worse than Roger is stupid, because the titles say he's much better than me."

Djokovic had no such hesitation. "He has the capabilities already now to become the best player ever," said Djokovic, who upset Federer in Saturday's semi-final. "(Nadal is) playing the best tennis that I've ever seen him play on hard courts. He has improved his serve drastically - the speed, the accuracy. And, of course, his baseline (game) is as good as ever."

Nadal is a year younger than Federer was when he won his ninth major, and three years younger than the Swiss was when he completed his career Grand Slam at the 2009 French Open. Nadal is the seventh man in history with at least one title from each of tennis' four most important tournaments.

Bjorn Borg was the only other man to have nine major championships by 24. "It's too far; 16, for me, is too far to think about right now," Nadal said. "My goal, all my life, was the same: keep improving."

His major improvement in this tournament came from his serve, thanks to a change in his grip. He won 106 of 111 service games in the tournament. Nadal is first left-hander to win the US Open since John McEnroe in 1984, and the first Spaniard since Manuel Orantes in 1975.

The man from Mallorca burst onto the scene as the so-called King of Clay, compiling a record 81-match winning streak on that surface and starting his French Open career 31-0. His five titles at Roland Garros have earned him accolades as the best clay-court player in history, but now he has become so much more. He won on the grass at Wimbledon in 2007, edging Federer 9-7 in the fifth, then again this year.He won on the hard courts at the Australian Open in 2009, again beating Federer in five sets.

All that was left was the US Open. After complaining of fatigue in 2008, coming off his gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, then dealing with bad knees and a torn abdominal muscle in 2009, he set out to make this trip different. He curtailed his schedule after Wimbledon, getting treatment on his knees and skipping the Davis Cup quarter-finals. It seemed to work.

"Nadal is just proving each day, each year, that he's getting better. That's what's so frustrating, a little bit. He's getting better each time you play him," Djokovic said. "He's so mentally strong and dedicated to this sport. He has all the capabilities, everything he needs, in order to be the biggest ever." Nadal stretched his Grand Slam winning streak to 21 matches by adding the US Open to his titles at the French Open in June, then Wimbledon in July. No man had won those three tournaments in the same year since Rod Laver won a true Grand Slam in 1969.

Now Nadal heads to the Australian Open in January with a chance to claim four consecutive major championships - something that also hasn't been done since Laver.