NEW YORK — Frances Tiafoe ended Rafael Nadal’s 22-match profitable streak at Grand Slam tournaments by beating the 22-time main champion 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 within the U.S. Open’s fourth spherical on Monday.
Tiafoe is a 24-year-old from Maryland who's seeded twenty second at Flushing Meadows and reached the second main quarterfinal of his profession.
He's the youngest American man to get that far on the U.S. Open since Andy Roddick in 2006, however this was not a case of a one-sided crowd backing one in every of its personal. Nadal is about as standard because it will get in tennis and heard loads of help in Arthur Ashe Stadium as the amount raised after the retractable roof was shut within the fourth set.
“I don’t even know what to say proper now. I’m past pleased. I can’t consider it,” stated Tiafoe, who faces No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev subsequent. “He’s one of many biggest of all time. I performed unbelievable tennis right this moment, however I don’t even know what occurred.”
Right here’s what occurred: Tiafoe served higher than No. 2 seed Nadal. Extra surprisingly, he returned higher, too. And he saved his cool, remained within the second and by no means let the stakes or the opponent get to him. Nadal had gained each of their earlier matches, and each set they performed, too.
“Effectively performed for him,” Nadal stated. “He was higher than me.”
This shock got here a day after one in every of Tiafoe’s buddies, Nick Kyrgios, eradicated No. 1 seed and defending champion Daniil Medvedev.
Nadal gained the Australian Open in January and the French Open in June. Then he made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon in July earlier than withdrawing from that match due to a torn belly muscle; that doesn't go into the books as a loss, as a result of he pulled out earlier than the match.
The 36-year-old from Spain competed solely as soon as within the 1½ months between leaving the All England Membership and arriving in New York whereas recovering from that harm. His play has not been as much as his traditional requirements on the U.S. Open, which he has gained 4 instances, notably his serve.
Nadal tweaked his service movement, tossing the ball decrease than he usually does in order to not put as a lot pressure on his midsection whereas reaching along with his racket. There have been loads of indicators Monday that his serve is simply not in tip-top form: 9 double-faults, a first-serve proportion hovering round 50%, 5 breaks by Tiafoe.
The subsequent-to-last break got here for a 4-3 edge within the fourth set, when Nadal put a backhand into the web, and Tiafoe skipped backward towards the sideline for the following changeover, his fist raised. Fifteen minutes later, Tiafoe broke once more, and it was over.
When one final backhand by Nadal discovered the web, Tiafoe put his arms on his head. When he sat in his sideline chair, he buried his face in a towel.
“Once I first got here on the scene, lots of people had limitations on what I might do. … I wasn’t ‘prepared for it mentally.’ I wasn’t ‘mature,’” Tiafoe stated. However lately, he added, “I’m in a position to simply do me and do it my manner and benefit from the recreation I like.”
This represents the most recent vital step ahead for Tiafoe, whose solely earlier journey to a Grand Slam quarterfinal got here on the 2019 Australian Open — and ended with a loss to Nadal.
Tiafoe thanked a protracted record of oldsters who have been within the stands, together with his dad and mom — they emigrated from Sierra Leone in West Africa and Dad labored as a upkeep man at a tennis facility close to the U.S. capital — his girlfriend and Washington Wizards All-Star guard Bradley Beal.
“To have them see what I did right this moment means greater than something,” Tiafoe stated. “Right this moment’s an unbelievable day and I’m going to soak this one in, for positive.”
There have been indicators of hassle for Nadal earlier within the match.
He misplaced the primary set of his first-round match. Did the identical within the second spherical, when he additionally by chance reduce the bridge of his nostril and made himself dizzy when the sting of his racket body bounced off the court docket and caught him within the face on a backhand follow-through.