Federer beat Nadal in five sets to claim the Australian Open and then won Wimbledon before losing in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open to Juan Martín del Potro. Nadal won an unprecedented 10th French Open in June and has now taken the U.S. Open.

“For me personally, it’s just unbelievable what happened to me this year after a couple of years with some troubles: injuries, moments playing not good,” Nadal said in the postmatch ceremony on Sunday. “From the beginning of the season, it has been very emotional.”

It has been a throwback season in part — but only in part — because of the physical problems of Nadal’s and Federer’s traditional rivals. None of the three men who won major titles in 2016 — Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka — were able to play in this year’s U.S. Open because of injuries.

Murray’s late withdrawal because of hip pain opened up the bottom half of the draw, from which the 28th-seeded Anderson emerged. After defeating Pablo Carreño Busta in a semifinal on Friday, Anderson, 31, who lives in South Florida, climbed into the stands to celebrate with his team — a move usually reserved for winning titles.

“I don’t know if the team hug is the appropriate thing for the final, but it certainly seemed like the right thing to do,” Anderson said Friday. “These Grand Slams are tough. We are privileged to play with some of the best players in the history of the game. It’s nice some of them gave us a bit of a shot to make a run at this tournament.”

It was an enchantingly modest comment, reflective of all the high-profile withdrawals. It also turned out to be a wise move, because there was not nearly so much to celebrate on Sunday, as Anderson had to deal with Nadal, fresh and eager and back on top of the tennis pyramid.