2011 U.S. Open: Why Rafael Nadal Will Demolish Novak Djokovic

No. 2 player in the world Rafael Nadal, when least expected, has played the best tennis of his career in this 2011 U.S. Open, as he is arguably the favorite against No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the Final.

Winner of the 2010 U.S. Open tournament, Nadal hopes he can repeat as champion and take the top prize at Flushing Meadows once again. The win would also go down as his 11th grand slam title, more than any active men's player in the game with the exception of Roger Federer with 16.

To win the title, he will have to go through the great Novak Djokovic, the current ATP No. 1 player in the world and easily the best player in tennis this season. To start off the year, Djokovic won an impressive 43 consecutive games before his streak was eventually put to rest by Federer.

To get to the U.S. Open Final, Nadal has put together a memorable run. From the third round onward, Nadal has faced some big-time competition and gotten through it without breaking a sweat. Nadal was able to defeat David Nalbandian, Gilles Muller, Andy Roddick and No. 4 seed Andy Murray en route to the championship match.

Talk about some competition.

To make matters more impressive, Nadal has dropped just one set the entire tournament. The one set was conceded to Andy Murray in his semifinals match, where he lost the third set in what would have been another straight set victory for the Spaniard star.

Djokovic, on the other hand, is playing some of the best tennis of anyone to play the game. He has won the 2011 Australian Open and 2011 Wimbledon this season, and is looking for his third grand slam of the year. For his career, he has a total of just three grand slam titles.

Another advantage that plays into Nadal's hands is the fact that last year, he was able to beat Novak Djokovic when winning the 2010 U.S. Open, and this will be a rematch of last year's final. Mentally, Nadal is also seeking revenge, as he had given up his No. 1 ranking earlier this season to a streaking Djokovic.

There is plenty at stake in this match for Nadal, as a win now would put him back into the talks as the No. 1 player in tennis. When healthy, Nadal is a force, as he has put together some of the best tennis of his entire career on this stage in New York.

Djokovic also comes into the match quite fatigued after having to comeback from a two-set deficit to win his semifinals match against Roger Federer. It should also be noted that Novak had to come back from a 5-3 deficit with Federer on serve to win the final set.

When it's all said and done, so long as Nadal finishes the match healthy, expect Nadal to take the match in four sets and repeat as U.S. Open Champion in 2011.

Luis Batlle is  a Featured Columnist with B/R specializing in NBA (Boston Celtics), NFL, Tennis and International Soccer.

Follow Luis on Twitter : @lbatll1