U.S. Open Final Will Change The Way the World Looks At Tennis

The 2010 US Open has come and gone, and so too has the way the world looks at tennis. With Rafael Nadal's name engraved on the beautiful silver trophy at Flushing Meadows, the transfer of power has finally been completed. 

A Swiss man named Roger Federer has passed his title over to the safekeeping of a 24-year-old Spaniard named Rafael Nadal. 

Going into the tournament this year there were two primary stories. 

One was the debate about Federer's place in history if he won what would have been his 17th Grand Slam title. 

The other was about Nadal's ability or lack thereof to win in New York and become just the seventh to complete a career Grand Slam. 

Fast forward two weeks, and tennis fans witnessed Nadal's four-set victory over Novak Djokovic, just two days after the Serbian had knocked Federer out of the tournament in a hard-fought match. 

Federer is without a doubt one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He clearly belongs in the same category as Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, and the other greats of history. There is a pretty significant argument that he is the absolute best of all time. 

The way that tennis fans have watched tennis for a long time now has been to see the Swiss Maestro play and earn his place in history. His unrelenting pursuit of greatness was a joy to watch, and thrilled tennis fans for years. And it's important to remember that he isn't done yet. 

Federer was just an inch away from advancing to a highly-anticipated final showdown with Nadal on two separate points, but both of his match points were won by his opponent when the powerful forehands of Djokovic just barely grazed the baseline.

Once again, the man who holds innumerable tennis records is not quite finished. He will win again.

But the way we watch Federer's pursuit of Grand Slam No. 17 is going to take a backseat to the way we watch Nadal's quest for No. 10. 

The Spaniard became the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to win Wimbledon, the French Open, and the U.S. Open in one year, and he's now the unquestioned best player in tennis. 

Tennis fans, it's time to watch Nadal continue his pursuit of the title of greatest ever. He's earned that right, now.