US Open Takeaways: #2, Rafantastic

This 17-point roundup is about the players who put it all on and inside the lines at the rowdiest major event of the season. The hits started early, and they certainly kept coming.

Check out No. 3 here

"I’ll think about it next year when I’m in Majorca," Toni Nadal said of this being his final major event as his nephew's full-time coach. "Nostalgia is for then, not for now."

With that, the man perennially referred to as Uncle Toni will saunter into the sunset of coaching 16-time major champ Rafael Nadal to his third U.S. Open title (2010, 2013) and a return to the ATP No. 1 ranking.

Nadal rarely looked vulnerable in his seven-match conquest to take this title. In the wake of his latest feat, he already showed signs of a nervous "trophy itch," perhaps ready for the next one.

He also found himself with a famous defender, Maria Sharapova, when a tweeter posted a rumination as to whether Nadal's grunt was louder (read: more annoying) than hers.

To be sure, Nadal shined in New York, and not just because of the $725,000 Richard Mille timepiece on his wrist. He also doled out some one-liners that went over with the media even better than he seemed to intend. Asked in a presser what he most admires on and off the court about once-and-future rival Roger Federer, Nadal deadpanned, "I don't want to look like I'm gonna be his boyfriend" as the crowd opened up with laughter.

As for the championship match itself, which Nadal won 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 over first-time major finalist Kevin Anderson, this is how he did it: His serve was reliable, though not nearly as big for the tournament as it was when he first won it in 2010; his strokes were spinny and searing; and, most interesting, he went 16 for 16 at the net in this final.

Between his French and US Open titles, Nadal has stoked past years' embers of “Rafanaticism” and taken the flame within and the fiery adoration of his fans to a next level. That's so him, to combine with a friendly foe in Federer for the sum of this season's Grand Slam titles.

We'll let Andy Roddick, the last homegrown US Open men's singles champ (2003), provide the final stamp on this matter:

Follow Jon on Twitter: @jonscott9.