He beat Djokovic 3 sets to 1 in the final to clinch his 13th Grand Slam title, seven months after he returned to action following a lengthy lay-off.

Rafael Nadal beat world number one, Novak Djokovic by 3 sets to 1 in the final of the US Open Tennis tournament on Monday to claim his second US Open title and the 13th Grand Slam title in his career.

He beat Djokovic 6-2 in the first set and bowed 3-6 in the second set before moving on to completely dominate his opponent in the next two sets; 6-4 and 6-1 in an encounter that lasted three hours and 21 minutes. Nadal’s victory is significant on two counts. Firstly because the victory comes barely seven months after his return to action after a  seven-month absence due to a knee injury.  Secondly that it was achieved against the reigning world number one tennis man, Novak Djokovic.

"This season is probably the most emotional one I've had," said Nadal to the BBC. "It means a lot for me to have this trophy with me today. It's just amazing," the 27-year old Spaniard declared, elated. Nadal is now set to regain the number one ranking he lost to Djokovic. He missed the last edition of the US Open during his lengthy lay-off. Nadal is now set to regain the number one ranking.

It was the sixth Grand Slam final between Spaniard and Serbian and third at Flushing Meadows. Nadal won in 2010 edition and Djokovic took revenge in 2011.

Nadal, seeded second, had a 21-0 record on hard courts this year heading into the final, and had dropped serve just once while cruising through the draw in New York. Nadal has now won all 22 hard-court matches he has played in 2013. He has won 10 titles this year, from 12 finals and has lost only three of the 63 matches played this year.