It’s Monday madness — the best saved for last.
It is now up to top-seeded Novak Djokovic to stop the runaway hardcourt freight train that is Rafael Nadal in a men’s final Monday at 4:30 p.m. that will cap off an otherwise humdrum U.S. Open. The victor stakes his claim for player of the year.
The second-seeded Nadal is 21-0 on hardcourts this year and is poised to win his second Grand Slam tournament of 2013, adding to his French Open crown.
But this one would be more impressive. The Spaniard looks to win his second career Open and forever erase the notion his troublesome knees prevent him from playing his best on hardcourts.
ESPN’s Patrick McEnroe said he picked Nadal before the Open and is sticking with the prediction.
“I think Nadal in a tight four-setter,’’ McEnroe said. “He’s played cleaner, more aggressive ball all summer.”
Nadal and Djokovic meet for the third time in four years in the Open final. Nadal missed the Open last year, back in Mallorca nursing his injured knees. His comeback has been as if he drank a magic elixir.
But Djokovic, making his fourth straight appearance in the final in Flushing, is a rock. He won the Australian Open this year and for the second straight year has made three of the four Grand Slam finals — a remarkable, unheralded achievement for the acrobatic Serbian baseline defender.
Nadal was honest when asked whether he was happy his opponent would be Djokovic. Clearly, Nadal was waving his imaginary Swiss flag when Djokovic eked past Stanislas Wawrinka in a five-set semifinal on Saturday.
“I prefer to play against another one,” Nadal said. “But is what it is. We have to be honest. We don’t have to be stupid. Talking about the final, I want to play against a player that I have more chances to win. But I play against him. I played against him a lot of times.”
This is the 37th meeting between Nadal and Djokovic, the most confrontations for any men’s matchup in the Open era. Nadal leads the series, 21-15, including a 7-3 mark in Grand Slams. Nadal won his first Open title in 2010 by beating Djokovic in four sets. Djokovic returned the favor in a four-setter the following year.
The rivalry has been one of competing stretches of dominance. Nadal has won five of the past seven meetings. Before that, Djokovic had won seven straight.
Djokovic looked shaky early in his four-plus-hour showdown against the underdog Wawrinka. Before the semifinals, Djokovic had dropped just one set. Nadal also has dropped just one set and has lost his serve just once.
“When you are involved in these kind of matches, you feel special,’’ Nadal said. “Novak is a great opponent. We already play a lot of important matches for our career, so that makes that confrontation special. And when you have the chance to win against the most difficult players, that victory is more special.
“But not in final of U.S. Open. The final of the US Open, what really is important is to win the tournament, not the opponent.’’
Whichever way it goes, it will mark the 33rd time in the past 34 majors that one member of the European Big 4 (which also includes Roger Federer and Andy Murray) has won. And that truly is a special era.