Only Federer, Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors, with five titles each, have reigned more times than Nadal in New York in the 51-year open era.
The great Spaniard's four hour and 49 minute victory extended the dominance of tennis's big three of Nadal, Federer and Novak Djokovic to 12 straight slams.
But Nadal was forced to fight to prevent Medvedev from striking a massive blow for the sport's next-gen stars.
