Two of the standout performers at the US Open have put themselves firmly in contention to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in London.

With just eight weeks of the regular ATP World Tour season remaining, Pablo Carreno Busta and Kevin Anderson have surged forwards in the Emirates ATP Race To London as they bid to qualify for the first time.

View Emirates ATP Race To London

Carreno Busta, who reached his first Grand Slam semi-final in New York, losing to Anderson, is up to eighth in the year-to-date standings, although Stan Wawrinka at fifth has already ruled himself out for the remainder of the season. Carreno Busta was also a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros earlier in the year and won his third ATP World Tour title in Estoril (d. Muller).

Anderson, who finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal at Flushing Meadows, is up to 11^th, although he is still behind Novak Djokovic, who is also sidelined for the rest of 2017. The South African has risen 17 places in the standings after a remarkable run in New York, made all the more significant by the injury woes that plagued him in the first half of the season.

Nadal and Roger Federer have already secured their spots at the elite eight-player tournament, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November.

Alexander Zverev is next in line to qualify, at third in the standings. The 20-year-old German has won two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in his standout season, but failed to make a further push for London as he suffered a surprise second-round exit at the US Open (l. to Coric).

Dominic Thiem reached the fourth round at the US Open as he cemented his place among the Top 4 in the year-to-date standings. The Austrian is looking to qualify for the year-end championships for the second year in a row.

As the race starts to countdown, Grigor Dimitrov, Marin Cilic and Sam Querrey will all look to add crucial points to their tallies in the coming weeks.

It is a bolt out of the blue to some, but just reward for years of gradual improvements in Kevin Anderson’s eyes. Now the big-serving South African is backing himself like never before. 

A maiden Grand Slam final may not have fallen his way on the scorecard after a straight-sets dismissal at the hands of Rafael Nadal, but it is a two-week stretch that has laid the foundations for the 31 year old to finish the year with a bang. The long road back from an injury-riddled 2016 and first half of 2017 only makes his run sweeter. 

While defeat was still fresh, Anderson said once the dust had settled he would look back on his US Open run with only great memories. He came up against one of the game’s greats on the day and was forthcoming in his praise of what gave Nadal his edge.

“Definitely the first one, as I said quite a few times, is his competitiveness, consistency at that level. He never goes away,” Anderson said. “He brings that high energy every single point. I think that’s probably one of the biggest ones.

“It goes without saying his groundstrokes, his movements, defensive skills, it all comes together. I think he blended that very well tonight against me.”

A projected return to No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Rankings puts Anderson within striking range of a career-high No. 10, achieved on the back of a quarter-final run at Flushing Meadows two years ago. Having started his season at World No. 80 it warrants a welcome rethink of goals for the remainder of 2017.

“The target of getting back to 10 is something I set myself a little while ago. I got off to a bit of a tough start at the beginning of the year, but this summer I have really put myself in a good position.

“I feel like when I’m taking care of the stuff I need to, the ranking will take care of itself. It’s great to sit back at the end of the week and see the jump that I have made and the spots I have been able to climb, something I can be very proud of.

“Regardless of what happened these two weeks, I can take confidence. But I’m really going to have to reset and would love to have obviously a very strong finish to the year. I think maybe missing the beginning of the year has set me up well in terms of freshness.”

Two years ago, the South African finished a few spots shy of a maiden Nitto ATP Finals appearance. A strong finish to the year will put him well within the mix again.

“It would be great. That definitely wasn’t on my radar sort of in March/April this year after missing the beginning,” Anderson said. “I felt it was right there. My body was healthy, I spent a lot of time on my physical conditioning and I was hitting the ball great. 

“I just needed to find that form on the match court. I feel like I have really done that. Looking back at the summer, I have had some really good results. I’ve put myself in contention.” 

Sweet 16. Rafael Nadal won a perfect 16 of 16 points at the net in claiming his 16th Grand Slam singles title at the US Open on Sunday. Everywhere you looked, there was a storyline, but his superiority in finishing points at the front of the court shone bright on the big stage. Nadal defeated Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-3, 6-4 in the final, putting a stamp on his recent resurgence back to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

There were six focal points for the Spaniard that highlighted his dominance in the past fortnight in the Big Apple.

1. Tournament Net Points Won 80% (96/120)
Nadal finished tied for fourth-best in points won at the net during the tournament and was tops among those coming forward at least 30 times. He turned in a dominant performance when coming forward on Sunday (16/16 won). 

By contrast, Anderson only won 66 per cent (111/168) of points at the net for the tournament, including just 47 per cent (16/34) in the final. They actually won the exact same amount of points at net (16), but Anderson went there more than twice as much to accrue the same total.

2. Final Nadal Break Points Faced: 0
Nadal didn’t face a single break point in the final and was broken just seven times in seven matches throughout the tournament. It wasn’t until the last game of the match, with Nadal serving at 5-4 in the third set, that Anderson was finally able to extend a Nadal service game to deuce. 

At deuce, Anderson jumped to his left to cover a first serve to the backhand, but Nadal was a step ahead with a serve out wide to the forehand. Anderson barely touched the ball. On his second match point, Nadal served-and-volleyed behind a curling slider out wide, and easily knocked off a backhand volley winner into the open court to win the match.

3. Final Baseline Points Won: 57% (54/95)
Once the point evolved past the serve and return in the final, Nadal completely dominated from the back of the court. Nadal won 57 per cent of his baseline points, while Anderson battled mightily, but only managed to win 32 per cent (25/77) of his baseline points. Anderson’s forehand yielded 27 errors, while the backhand was slightly higher at 35. 

The baseline was the Spaniard’s domain from start to finish in New York, winning a tournament high 58 per cent (456/784). He was one of only nine players that had a winning record from the baseline in New York over the past two weeks. 

4. Gateway Points Won: 100% (4/4)
Nadal was only pressured to 30/30 and deuce four times in the final and won all four of those points. In direct contrast, Anderson was pushed to 30/30 and deuce 21 times over three sets, winning just 14 (67 per cent) of those points.

Anderson’s first service game of the match went to deuce and he won it. It was a victory for Anderson, but also a victory for Nadal to immediately go deep in the South African’s opening service game. He had to endure seven deuces in his second service game before finally winning it. His third service game had five deuces, and he won that as well. 

At 3-3, Anderson was stretched to deuce yet again. He double faulted, putting a 107 mph second serve into the net, and lost the ad point when he cooked a forehand just wide.

5. Tournament: Nadal Serve & Volley 100% (10/10)
Nadal had not served-and-volleyed until the semi-finals, where he won 5/5 against Juan Martin Del Potro. Nadal doubled up with the tactic, winning 5/5 against Anderson, following a wide slider immediately to the net in the Ad court on match point.

The overall win percentage serving and volleying for all players in New York was 66 per cent (375/572), which was higher than the average for general net points (65 per cent) and baseline points (47 per cent). 

6. Final: 1st Serve Points Won Deuce Court: 91% (20/22)
Nadal peppered the Anderson backhand with his first serve in the deuce court, hitting 13 down the middle, three at the body, and just six out wide to the forehand. Nadal also went after Anderson’s backhand return in the Ad court, hitting 16 wide, two at the body, and only five down the T to the forehand. Nadal won 18/23 first serves in the Ad court.

1) Nadal Sends Uncle Toni Out On A Winning Note
Having cemented his southpaw grip on the Emirates ATP No. 1 Ranking with his 16th Grand Slam title, Rafael Nadal also extended his lead atop the Emirates Race to London over his great rival Roger Federer. But for all the ticker-tape on-court celebrations, trophy biting and talk of year-end No. 1s, this US Open was also very much about the man in the stands, his coach who has been there every step of the way – Uncle Toni Nadal.

Early in the season, Toni announced the US Open would be his last Grand Slam as his nephew’s coach having travelled the globe for the best part of 15 years. His Spanish charge is in great hands with fellow Majorcan and former World No. 1 Carlos Moya taking the reins. 

“He’s someone that was pushing me all along, he was great motivation to practise as a kid,” Nadal said at the trophy presentation. “Thank you very much to him because he’s for sure one of the most important people in my life.”

2) Del Potro A Force On The Biggest Stages Once More
Since his 2009 US Open breakthrough, the big Argentine has been to hell and back with a long list of wrist surgeries and subsequent lengthy rehabilitation stints on the sidelines. With a steady climb back into the Top 30 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, his season had been solid without taking the world by storm – until his US Open run.

Seeded 24th, he saw off No. 11 seed Roberto Bautista Agut and then fought back from two sets down, saving match points to deny No. 6 seed Dominic Thiem. It was his four-set triumph over No. 3 seed Roger Federer that catapulted him into his first Grand Slam semi-final since 2013 Wimbledon and despite coming up short against eventual champion Nadal in the semi-finals, this was the surest sign yet the 28 year old could once again be a Top 10 fixture.

3) Rublev Leads NextGen Charge
An open bottom half of the draw had many pundits pencilling in runaway #NextGenATP Emirates Race to Milan leader Alexander Zverev to reach his maiden Grand Slam final in New York, but fellow 20 year old, Borna Coric, had other ideas, taking down the German in the second round. Still searching for his first Slam quarter-final, the German will only have added motivation after 19 year old Andrey Rublev pipped him to the post.

The wiry Russian dismissed No. 7 seed Grigor Dimitrov and No. 9 seed David Goffin, both in straight sets, to reach the last eight before Nadal ended his run. Another teenager of Russian heritage was making big waves with Canada’s Denis Shapovalov backing up his surprise run to the Coupe Rogers semi-finals with a maiden fourth-round appearance at a Grand Slam. Cap backwards, fist-pumping and swinging from the hips, the 18 year old qualifier felled eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga en route before Pablo Carreno Busta had his number.

4) Perseverance Pays For Anderson
An injury-ravaged 2016 saw Kevin Anderson enter the season at No. 80 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Few could have predicted the 31 year old South African powering through to his first Grand Slam final at Flushing Meadows just eight months later.

Hip, leg and right elbow injuries had plagued his season, while last year, ankle surgery, groin, left knee and right shoulders problems derailed him. The ever-affable Anderson’s greatest hope out of his surprise run was not of rankings boosts or future titles but of the spin-off effect back home.

“We definitely face a lot of challenges when it comes to producing tennis players,” he said of South Africa. “I have said this all along, my biggest hope is I’m able to inspire the kids to get out and play, because it can definitely feel like it’s a long road being so far from everything.”

5) Rojer/Tecau The Team To Beat
The Dutch-Romanian duo found it tough going last season trying to replicate a breakthrough run from the year prior. Their 2015 included a maiden Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and the year-end Emirates ATP No. 1 Doubles Team Ranking, having claimed the Nitto ATP Finals in London.

A 10-match winning streak now has seen them capture back-to-back titles at the Winston-Salem Open and US Open and puts them in a strong position to again qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in November. They are set to move up to third in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London. 

Rojer/Tecau took down a string of  established pairings to bag their second Grand Slam title – No. 6 seeds Marcel Granollers and Ivan Dodig, defending champions and No. 4 seeds Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray, top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers and No. 11 seeds Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez in a straight-sets final.

The Canadian conquest of the Emirates ATP Rankings has begun. Four weeks ago, the nation staked claim to the youngest player in the Top 100, as 18-year-old Denis Shapovalov continued his stunning ascent. On Monday, it will also have the youngest player in the Top 200.

Felix Auger-Aliassime continues to make history as he soars up the Emirates ATP Rankings, rising to a career-high No. 168 with his second ATP Challenger Tour title. The teen stormed back from a set and a break down to defeat Inigo Cervantes in Sevilla, Spain, on Saturday. With the victory, at 17 years and one month, he becomes the youngest to break into the Top 200 since Rafael Nadal in 2002.

“It’s quite special,” said Auger-Aliassime about the achievement. “It just proves that I’m doing the right things. But I’m aiming for much more than that. There’s still a lot of work to do and hopefully I’ll keep going like this.”

Over the past 20 years, only three players younger than the Canadian have made their Top 200 debut: Nadal, Lleyton Hewitt and Richard Gasquet.

Youngest To Make Top 200 Debut In Past 20 Years

The history-making week did not stop there. Auger-Aliassime also cemented himself in the ATP Challenger Tour record books, becoming the second-youngest player to win multiple titles. He stands behind only Gasquet, who was 16 years and eight months old when he claimed his second crown in Sarajevo in 2003.

Auger-Aliassime and Gasquet are two of only 10 players to win multiple Challenger titles at age 17 & under, also including Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin del Potro, Tomas Berdych, and most recently Taylor Fritz. He lifted his maiden trophy in Lyon in June.

The Copa Sevilla celebrated its 20th edition with the Canadian’s victory, but also claimed a slice of history itself. The €64,000 event is the first tournament on the ATP Challenger Tour to boast consecutive 17 year old champions, with Casper Ruud lifting the trophy in 2016.

Auger-Aliassime is no stranger to etching his name in the record books, having become the first player born in the 2000s to earn an Emirates ATP Rankings point, when he qualified for the Drummondville Challenger in 2015. He is also the youngest player to win a match on the ATP Challenger Tour, at 14 years, 11 months, later that year in Granby, Canada.

In Other Action
#NextGenATP star Stefanos Tsitsipas became just the third player from Greece to win an ATP Challenger Tour title, defeating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 7-6(2) in Genova, Italy. He joins Konstantinos Economidis and Vasilis Mazarakis as Greek winners. He rises to a career-high No. 120 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Qualifier Jurgen Zopp continued his dominant return to action after dropping out of the Top 500 due to injury. The Estonian won his first Challenger title since 2014 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Tommy Robredo in Alphen, Netherlands. He has won 26 of 27 matches since mid-July, including three Futures titles and the victory in Alphen.

Marcelo Arevalo made history for El Salvador, becoming the first player from his country to win a Challenger title. Arevalo defeated Daniel Elahi Galan 7-5, 6-4 in the Bogota, Colombia final. Also, Jason Jung claimed his second title and first of the 2017 season, defeating Ze Zhang 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in Zhangjiagang, China.

Mission accomplished. Rafael Nadal completed a dominant run to his 16th Grand Slam championship, notching a third US Open title at Flushing Meadows. The top seed defeated Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in Sunday’s final.

In 2013, Nadal entered the US Open at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and would emerge with the trophy. Four years later, history repeated itself. The top-ranked Spaniard prevailed in two hours and 27 minutes over the South African, adding to titles won in 2010 and ’13.

Nadal, who extends his growing lead in the Emirates ATP Race To London to 1,860 points, caps an impressive Grand Slam campaign with his second major victory of 2017 (Roland Garros). The win gives him the upper hand in the fight for year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings with Roger Federer.

“It’s been a very special two weeks for me,” Nadal told ESPN in his post-match interview. “But before I talk about me, I want to say congrats to Kevin. He’s a great example for a lot of kids and the rest of the tour to come back better than ever.

“For me, personally it’s unbelievable. After a couple of years with some injury problems, it has been very emotional since the beginning of the season. Since the Australian Open, I’ve been playing a very high level of tennis. Winning here in New York gives me great energy, because the crowd is unbelievable. They make me feel so happy.”

“Rafa is one of the greatest ambassadors in our sport, so congrats to him,” Anderson said in his post-match interview with ESPN. “It’s been an amazing two weeks for me. To make my first final of a Grand Slam has really been special. I can take a lot of positive from this summer. A lot of emotions to deal with. I was up against a pretty good opponent today. I’ll continue working hard to give myself more opportunities. I’ll take it a day at a time and I’m really pleased with how things turned out here.”

Open Era US Open Title Leaders

In total, the resurgent Spaniard has won five tour-level titles this year, the most for him since 2013 when he captured 10. It was also his first hard-court victory since the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha in 2014.

Nadal turned in a ruthless race to the finish against Juan Martin del Potro on Friday and he would carry the momentum on Sunday. Relying on his superior agility from the back of the court and biding his time before attacking with great depth, the Spaniard employed an efficient and clinical gameplan on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

With celebrities Rupert Murdoch, Jerry Seinfeld, Hilary Swank, Tony Bennett, Bill Gates and Tiger Woods in attendance, Nadal broke for 4-3 in the first and never looked back, striking a backhand winner to close out the opener. He would continue to press forward in the second set, slamming aside a volley winner to move ahead 4-2, and opened the third with yet another break.

Nadal raised his arms in triumph on his second match point, moving forward for a serve-and-volley winner. He prevailed after two hours and 27 minutes, firing 30 winners to just 11 unforced errors. He won 16 of 16 net points in total, while not facing a break point.

All-Time Grand Slam Title Leaders

“It has been a great two weeks,” Nadal told the assembled media. “Increasing level of tennis and increasing confidence during that two weeks. I have this trophy with me again here in New York. It means a lot to me. There is no better way to finish the Grand Slam season for me after a very emotional season in all aspects.

“So I’m very happy the way that I played, happy the way that I managed the pressure and the way that I was competing during the whole event. Playing better or worse, the competitive spirit has been there in a very positive way all the time.” 

The victory marks the first time in Nadal’s career in which he has rallied from a set down in three matches en route to a title. He battled hard throughout the two weeks in the Big Apple, coming back to overcome Taro Daniel in the second round, Leonardo Mayer in the third round and del Potro in the semi-finals.

Nadal and Federer have turned back the clock in 2017, combining to divide and conquer the four Grand Slam championships. It marks the fourth time it has happened, in addition to 2006, 2007 and 2010.

Anderson, meanwhile, caps a dream fortnight in reaching his first major final. He became the first South African to reach a Grand Slam title match since Kevin Curren at the 1984 Australian Open. The 31 year old is also the oldest first-time finalist since Nikola Pilic at Roland Garros in 1973.

Anderson is projected to rise to No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, behind victories over home hope Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals and 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the semis. It was his second final of the American hard-court summer, adding to a runner-up result at the Citi Open in Washington.