Sitting on a French mountaintop provided the inspiration for Novak Djokovic to climb back to the tennis summit.
The 31-year-old defeated Juan Martin del Potro 6-3 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 in the US Open final to claim a third success at Flushing Meadows and make it back-to-back slam titles.
Prior to his Wimbledon crown, Djokovic had gone two years without a grand slam title, struggling with motivation, confidence and an elbow problem that ruled him out of this tournament 12 months ago.
He finally had surgery in February and, reunited with mentor Marian Vajda, looked to be regaining top form when he suffered a shock French Open quarter-final loss to Marco Cecchinato.
Djokovic said: "I felt like I was so close to the desired level, and then I just completely underplayed that match. I had to disconnect a little bit. I went hiking with my wife for five days in the French mountains. We just isolated ourselves and took things from a different perspective."
It was climbing Mont Saint Victoire in Provence, the inspiration for many of Paul Cezanne's paintings, that helped Djokovic see the light.
"We sat down and we just looked at the world from that perspective, breathed in the new inspiration, new motivation," he said. "I thought of tennis, thought of the emotion that tennis provokes in me. It was all positives. I just felt like I had a new breath for this sport."
Djokovic is now level on 14 Grand Slam titles with Pete Sampras and, in men's terms, behind only Rafael Nadal on 17 and Roger Federer's 20. He will climb above Del Potro to third in the rankings and could yet overtake number one Nadal by the end of the season.
Equalling Sampras was particularly special for Djokovic, who said: "Pete Sampras is one of the biggest legends ever to play the game. He was my childhood idol.
"The first thing I saw related to tennis on the TV was his first or second Wimbledon championship. That inspired me to start playing tennis."
Djokovic's most difficult opponent this tournament has been the heat and humidity, so Sunday's cool and wet conditions, resulting in the roof being shut on Arthur Ashe Stadium, were perfectly to his liking.
Del Potro was the sentimental favourite as he attempted to win a second slam title nine years after his first, having suffered two serious wrist injuries, the second of which he feared would end his career.
The crux of the match came midway through the second set. From 1-3, Del Potro won three games in a row and had Djokovic rattled.
The Serbian had to endure a dramatic 20-minute service game in which his opponent had three more break points but could not take them.
Djokovic then won the tie-break from 1-3 down to clinch a 95-minute set and, although Del Potro also threatened a comeback in the third, there was no doubt who was the stronger player.
