Nadal savors being part of the dream generation

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Belonging to a generation of era-defining champions is of greater importance to Spanish juggernaut Rafa Nadal than his long-term rivalry with Roger Federer.

World number one Nadal won his third U.S. Open and 16th grand slam title with a 6-3 6-3 6-4 demolition of South African Kevin Anderson, triggering speculations on his chances of surpassing Federer&rsquo-s record of 19 major championships.

&ldquo-Of course this rivalry has been important for our sport, in my opinion,&rdquo- Nadal said of his battles with the Swiss great.

&ldquo-That involved a lot of people, and because of different styles, different characters, and we played for the most important things for such a long time, I think that was the great promotion for our sport,&rdquo- Nadal told a news conference.

&ldquo-I feel happy to be part of this rivalry, but at the same time, I played even more matches with Novak (Djokovic) than with Roger in such important matches, too.&rdquo-

Since Nadal won the first of this 10 French Open titles, he, Federer and Djokovic have won 43 of the 51 grand slams.

&ldquo-In my career, I have been involved in different rivalries. I feel lucky to be part of all of them in some way. In another way, I have been in an era where three players achieved 19, 16 and 12 (grand slams),&rdquo- he said, referring to himself, Federer and Djokovic.

&ldquo-That&rsquo-s a lot, no? There is a remarkable part of the history of our sport. So that means was difficult for everybody to win titles in this part of the, in this era.&rdquo-

Since then, only Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic have managed to win major titles.

&ldquo-That&rsquo-s difficult to find some players in the same generation that achieve all the things that we achieved,&rdquo- Nadal said.

&rdquo-We are in an era that is not nice to say, because I&lsquo-m part of it, but we are in an era that some players make incredible things in this sport, no?

&ldquo-Happy to be part of it, and I feel lucky to be part of it and enjoying the fact that I have been involved in some way in the two rivalries. That is amazing, no?&rdquo-

Nadal and Djokovic have played each other 50 times, the Serbian prevailing 26 times but losing three of their four grand slam final encounters.

The Spaniard has a 23-14 win-loss record against Federer and he won six of their nine finals at a major.

&ldquo-I think nobody played more matches against each other like Novak and I and with Roger, because we competed for such a long time for the first and second spots and competed for most important events,&rdquo- said Nadal.

&rdquo-It&rsquo-s been great but at the same time, there have been difficult moments to win a lot of titles, but in some way, we should be very happy, no? Because us three, we still won a lot of things, and probably even Roger and me or Novak even much more than we ever dreamed.

&ldquo-We feel very happy about all the things that happened to us, and probably everybody, we feel lucky in some way.&rdquo-