Nadal shows resilience in straight-sets victory

U.S. Open facts of life:

1) Nothing is easy, even for the world's No. 1 player, but . . .

2) It is difficult to find a more relentless player than Rafael Nadal.

Down 5-1 in the second-set tiebreak in Friday night's second-round match, when matters might have begun to tip back just a bit toward unlikely challenger Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, Nadal put a new emphasis on persistence, winning six straight points and the set.

And proceeded to take the match, 6-2, 7-6 (5), 7-5.

As popular as Nadal is among Open fans, 23,802 of whom again filled Arthur Ashe Stadium for the night session, Istomin had brought the house down with his spectacular winner that pushed his tiebreak lead to 5-1. He somehow chased down a perfectly angled Nadal drop shot with a sliding backhand - made possible by doing the splits - that he dumped just out of Nadal's reach.

While the fans leaped to their feet and cheerfully howled, Nadal - preparing to serve the next point - quietly and subtly tapped his racket with his own appreciative applause.

And then ripped out Istomin's heart, like this:

Istomin slapped a backhand wide and his comfortable lead shrank a tad to 5-2. Nadal ended the next point with a charging crosscourt backhand volley. 5-3. Then Istomin, having pushed Nadal well behind the baseline, netted a delicate drop shot attempt. 5-4.

That's when the net got in on the act, as Nadal whacked a hard forehand that caught the cord, then somehow hopped over. 5-5. Nadal swung a serve wide to Istomin's forehand and Istomin slapped it way long. 6-5, Nadal.

And, after a brief rally on set point, Istomin pushed a backhand long.

Nadal's usual grinding work was mostly matched by the hard-serving, athletic Istomin. But there was no keeping up with Nadal's results on the biggest points. He still hasn't won a U.S. Open championship, to go along with eight titles spread over the other three major tournaments. But Nadal's obstinance is a foregone conclusion.