0 for 6. Ouch.

This is incredibly demotivating. Both to Rafael Nadal and to all his fans, including myself. While Rafa did get to the final of the US Open for the second year in a row, he was unable to stop the juggernaut that is Noval Djokovic. This means that Novak has now beaten Rafa six straight times. All of them in finals.

There are a few of positive things that Nadal and his fans can take away from this. First, he was able to reach the final of the USO again. This was considered the most difficult slam for Rafa to win because it came relatively late in the year, during which time Nadal was often succumbing to injuries or a loss of form, and because the surface made it easy for big-hitters to take massive swipes at Rafa's high bouncing balls. For him to reach the final again means he has now figured out how to play on this surface.

Second, the last 3 times they played, including the Wimbledon final, Rafa seemed to fold meekly against Novak when things got a bit tight. In the US Open final, so many games went to multiple deuces, and Rafa fought really hard in all but a scant few of them, despite him ending up on the losing side of a lot of those tightly contested games. If he wasn't mentally ready to fight, that match would've have gone 4 hours.

Third, we know what he can work, or re-work on: his serve. That match could've gone his way if he managed to clock his serve at the 120s like he did last year. Instead, his serve failed him several times, and he must've averaged about 105 mph. If he can somehow regain his add 15-25 mph to his serve, he will prevent his opponents from teeing off on his serve and putting him on the defensive immediately.

Finally, despite the pain that that loss, Rafa bounced back in Davis Cup where he completely thrashed both Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet in two very easy straight sets wins. Most other people who would have suffered 6 straight devastating losses to their new nemesis would not have had the nerve to get back on court and whip the living daylights out of two top players.

Here's hoping that Nadal can take away a lot of positive things from that loss and help him regain some confidence when facing Novak Djokovic. I do wish someone in Nadal's camp can remind him that Martina Navratilova once beat Chris Evert 13 straight times but Evert eventually figured out how to win against Martina again and won a few more slams after that terrible losing streak. Hope Nadal can turn the tables a lot more quickly than that.