Nadal cruises past Anderson for slam title No.16

Rafael Nadal has overpowered Kevin Anderson to win the US Open title at Flushing Meadows in straight sets.

The 31-year-old Spaniard had too much class for the South African as he raced away to a 6-3 6-3 6-4 win on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

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For Nadal the win takes him to 16 grand slam singles titles, just three short of Roger Federer's record 19 majors.

After a tight opening six games in the first set, Nadal grabbed the all-important break to go 4-3, before holding serve and breaking again to claim first blood.

The 28th-ranked South African tested Nadal early as the two split the first six games of the match.

But an unforced error from Anderson handed Nadal a welcome break point and the world’s No. 1 player did not look back.

Unforced errors doomed Anderson as he committed 20 in the first set alone, compared to Nadal’s four.

Nadal needed just 39 minutes to finish off the second set, winning four of four net points to push his ratio to 11-for-11 for the match.

Nadal’s service game was brutally efficient, especially to close out, as the Spaniard won 57 of 73 points overall.

The second set followed a similar pattern to the first with Nadal managing to break in the fifth game to go 4-2 up.

From there, the 31-year-old South African was playing catch-up and the Spaniard simply didn't give him enough opportunities to do so.

Things went from bad to worse for Anderson as he dropped his opening service game in the third set.

The South African then received medical treatment for a finger injury while trailing 3-2.

Nadal mixed up his game beautifully, with a combination of baseline power and impressive net play constantly leaving Anderson guessing.

Victory saw Nadal add the US Open title - his third all up and first since 2013 - to the French Open title he won earlier this year.

The world no.1 was also runner-up to Federer in the season's opening grand slam, the Australian Open.

The 28th-seeded Anderson was bidding to become the lowest-ranked US Open champion in history.