Frances Tiafoe Makes A Huge Statement For American Tennis, Shocking Rafael Nadal in U.S. Open 4th Round

SportsMoney Frances Tiafoe Makes A Huge Statement For American Tennis, Shocking Rafael Nadal in U. S. Open 4th Round Adam Zagoria Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

I’m a basketball and tennis insider Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Sep 5, 2022, 06:08pm EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Frances Tiafoe, of the United States, serves to Rafael Nadal, of Spain, during the fourth round of . .

. [+] the U. S.

Open tennis championships, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez) Copyright 2022 The Associated Press.

All rights reserved. After drilling a two-handed backhand winner up the line to break Rafael Nadal in the third set of their U. S.

Open encounter Monday afternoon, Frances Tiafoe sprinted past the net to his chair like Pete Rose taking first base after a walk. No. 24 Tiafoe later uncorked a 113-mph ace to cement the third set and eventually finished off the 22-time Grand Slam champion and No.

2 seed, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium to advance to his first U. S. Open quarterfinal and second major quarterfinal.

It was by far the biggest win ever for the 24-year-old Tiafoe — the lone American man remaining in the draw. It has been nearly 20 years since the last American man won a major title: Andy Roddick at the 2003 U. S.

Open, a span of 74 majors. Tiafoe remains alive to break the drought and will next face Russian No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev in the quarters.

“I don’t know what to say right now,” Tiafoe said on court. “I’m beyond happy, I’m almost in tears, I can’t believe it. “He’s got to be one of the greatest of all time.

I played unbelievable tennis today but . . .

I don’t know what happened. ” Rafael Nadal, of Spain, returns to Frances Tiafoe, of the United States, during the fourth round of . .

. [+] the U. S.

Open tennis championships, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson) Copyright 2022 The Associated Press.

All rights reserved. MORE FOR YOU WWE Extreme Rules 2021 Results: Winners, News And Notes As Roman Reigns Beats The Demon The World’s Highest-Paid Soccer Players 2021: Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo Reclaims Top Spot From PSG’s Lionel Messi The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Green Bay Packers’ Win Over The San Francisco 49ers For Nadal, it was the first loss in a major event this season, dropping his record to 22-1 after he won the first two legs of the Grand Slam at the Australian and French Opens. He then had to withdraw ahead of his Wimbledon semifinal with Nick Kyrgios due to an abdominal injury.

It also ended a streak of 17 straight majors reaching the quarterfinals or better. “Well, the difference is easy: I played a bad match and he played a good match,” Nadal said. “At the end that’s it, no? I was not able to hold a high level of tennis for a long time.

I was not enough quick on my movements. He was able to take the ball too many times very early, so I was not able to push him back. .

. . Yeah, well done for him.

He was better than me. ” With Kyrgios having knocked off defending champion and top seed Daniil Medvedev on Sunday night, the top two seeds in the men’s draw are now out of the tournament and the possibility of a Nadal-Kyrgios or Nadal-Medvedev final on Sunday are gone. Nadal came into the Open having won his last match here in the 2019 final against Medvedev.

He did not play the last two years due to the pandemic and injuries. Nadal’s loss also means that someone other than the “Big 3” of Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer will win the U. S.

Open for a third straight year following Medvedev a year ago and Dominic Thiem in 2020 . Nadal and Djokovic have won 15 of the last 17 majors. Rafael Nadal, of Spain, celebrates after winning a point against Frances Tiafoe, of the United .

. . [+] States, during the fourth round of the U.

S. Open tennis championships, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in New York.

(AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson) Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Nadal has been dealing with injuries all season, playing through the French Open with Mueller-Weiss syndrome – a rare degenerative condition that affects bones in the feet and required multiple anaesthetic injections to numb the foot.

He then suffered the abdominal injury at Wimbledon that kept him out for a month before he lost his first and only match at the U. S. Open warmup event in Cincinnati.

Some physios have speculated that Nadal has overcompensated for his foot injury by putting too much pressure on his abdomen and stomach. Perhaps more significantly, his wife Maria Francisca Perello was recently hospitalized for complications during pregnancy, and Nadal admitted to some “mental’ distractions. “We can think, If I don’t get injured, maybe I win Wimbledon,” he said.

“Maybe I win another things on the past. Or maybe I lost another things because I was not able to create this interior power after all that injuries, no? “I mean, that’s part of my career. .

. . We can’t find excuses.

We need to be enough critic with myself. That’s the only way to improve or that’s the only way that I understand you are able to find solutions. “I have been practicing well the week before, honestly.

But then when the competition start, my level went down. That’s the true. For some reason, I don’t know, mental issues in terms of a lot of things happened the last couple of months.

“But doesn’t matter. At the end the only thing that happened is we went to the fourth round of the U. S.

Open and I faced a player that was better than me. And that’s why I am having a plane back home. ” Rafael Nadal, of Spain, waves to fans after his loss to Frances Tiafoe, of the United States, during .

. . [+] the fourth round of the U.

S. Open tennis championships, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022, in New York.

(AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson) Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Nadal said he did not know when he would return to the court.

“I need to go back,” he said. “I need to fix things, life, then I don’t know when I going to come back. I going to try to be ready mentally.

When I feel that I will be ready to compete again, I will be there. ” After dropping the first set to Tiafoe, Nadal left the court for nearly 10 minutes and ESPN’s Chris Fowler reported on air that he had his wrist taped. “No, I didn’t go for a medical timeout,” Nadal said.

“Bathroom break. I put some bandage for the humidity, to stop the humidity on my hands. That’s all.

” One of the best returners of all time, Nadal struggled with Tiafoe’s serve all afternoon. Tiafoe banged out 18 aces and Nadal broke him just twice. Tiafoe, meanwhile, covnerted 4-of-6 break opportunities.

In the fourth set, Nadal broke for a 3-1 lead with an inside-out forehand to the corner and then shouted toward his box. But Tiafoe broke right back thanks to a shaky service game from Nadal to make it 2-3. Tiafoe broke Nadal for 4-3 when the Spaniard returned a two-handed backhand into the high part of the net.

After Nadal fended off one game point, Tiafoe blasted a 134-mph ace on the second one to go ahead 5-3. With Nadal serving to stay in the match, Tiafoe got up triple-match point and won it on the second one when Nadal hit a backhand into the net. For now, the U.

S. Open is as wide open as ever. Only one Grand Slam champion remained entering Monday night and that was 2014 U.

S. Open champion Marin Cilic, who faces No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz.

And, with the American drought going on 20 years, Frances Tiafoe has to be asking himself, Why not me? Follow me on Twitter . Check out my website . Adam Zagoria Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.