Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal Win 2013 US Open Singles Titles

world #1 serena williams of the united states defeated world #2 victoria azarenka of belarus 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 to win her fifth us open women's singles crown. fiercely battling her opponent's competitive spirit, the swirling wind and quite often her own nerves, williams prevailed in a repeat of last year's hard-fought title bout with azarenka, which also went three sets.

the two women later shared their mutual respect. williams said, "vika's such a great opponent, such a great fighter, and that's why she's been able to win multiple grand slams. that's why it was never over until match point." azarenka replied," she's a champion, and she knows how to repeat that. she knows what it takes to get there. i know that feeling, too. and when two people who want that feeling so bad meet, it's like a clash."

williams turns 32 on september 26, and is playing the best tennis of her life. in the longest women's final since 1980 - two hours and 45 minutes - williams served nine aces, including one at 126 mph, en route to improving her amazing 2013 record to 67-4. she has nine titles this year, captured four of the last six major singles titles and became the first woman to earn $50 million in career earnings.

the fashionable, intense & perfectionist black woman now has 17 major singles titles, one behind chris evert & martina navratilova. she equaled steffi graf's five us open victories, one less than evert's all-time record of six in the open era, which began in 1968. williams never won consecutive us opens, but she did on sunday. her first us open triumph came as an unheralded teenager in 1999. since her shocking first-round loss at the 2012 french open, she is 98-5 with 14 titles.

world #2 rafael nadal of spain defeated world #1 novak djokovic of serbia 6-2. 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to win his second career us open men's singles crown. this was their 37th match against each other - the most between any two men in the open era - and nadal has won 22. it was also their third head-to-head us open final in the last four years. nadal won in 2010 and djokovic won their rematch in 2011.

nadal said afterwards, "this is probably the most emotional one in my career. i know i had to be almost perfect to win. probably nobody brings my game to the limit like novak." said djokovic," he was too good. he definitely deserved to win this match today, and this trophy. obviously disappointing to lose a match like this. thirteen grand slams for a guy who is 27 years old is incredible. whatever he achieved so far in his career, everybody should respect, no question about it."

although he missed about seven months on the tour - including the 2012 olympics and two majors - the charismatic, left-handed warrior is playing the best tennis of his career. nadal is 60-3 overall this year, including a remarkable 22-0 on hard courts. he's won 10 tournaments, among them a record eighth french open, which made him the first man in the open era to win a major singles title in nine consecutive seasons.

their hard-fought, three hour and 21 minute battle drew standing ovations in the middle of some games. most of the rallies went 15-25 shots, with one more than 50 strokes. with his thrilling victory, nadal ranks third on the all-time list with 13 major championships, behind roger federer with 17 and pete sampras with 14. in addition to his eight french open titles, he's won two wimbledon titles, two us open titles and one australian open title.