New York • U.S. Open finalists Rafael Nadal and Kevin Anderson are both professional tennis players who were born in 1986. Not much else in common.
Heading into Sunday’s match — well, mismatch, apparently — Nadal owns 15 Grand Slam titles, including two at Flushing Meadows in 2010 and 2013. Anderson: zero.
Sure, the 6-foot-8 Anderson, the tallest Grand Slam finalist in history, is equipped with a booming serve — he’s been broken only five times across 108 service games over the past two weeks — and so, in theory, the South African could make Nadal uncomfortable.