Rafael Nadal hopes of earning a third Grand Slam title in 2022 were dashed as he loses to home favourite Frances Tiafoe at the US Open.
The Spaniard had previously not lost a Grand Slam match this year, having won the Australian Open and the French Open before being forced to skip Wimbledon due to injury.
However, he was not able to overcome Tiafoe’s enthralling display, as the American won 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3 in New York.
Breaks in the seventh game of both the first and third sets were crucial for Tiafoe, despite Nadal’s breakthrough into a 3-1 lead in the fourth set.
However, world number 26 Tiafoe then won five consecutive games, including three consecutive breaks on Nadal’s serve, to secure a famous win.
Have a moment Frances Tiafoe!#USOpen pic.twitter.com/egoIVDoRWh
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2022
All the feels 🙌
Frances Tiafoe lost to Nadal in the @AustralianOpen 2019 QFs and just defeated him to reach his second Grand Slam QFs.@FTiafoe | @usopen | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/wRZGT9CAFK
— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 5, 2022
Tiafoe, who will play ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the semi-finals, is aiming to become the first American to win the home Grand Slam since Andy Roddick in 2003.
Marin Cilic’s loss to Carlos Alcaraz later in the day means that there are no past Grand Slam champions left in this year’s men’s tournament.
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What Has Rafael Nadal Said On His Loss To Tiafoe?
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal’s attempt for a record-extending 23rd Grand Slam championship, including a fifth at Flushing Meadows, has come to an end, and he has intimated that he would now retire from the sport.
“I need to go back. I need to fix things, life, then I don’t know when I’m going to come back,” the world number three told reporters after the match.
“I’m going to try to be ready mentally. When I feel that I will be ready to compete again, I will be there. The difference is easy: I played a bad match and he played a good match.
“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.
“Tennis is a sport of position. You need to be very, very quick and very young. I am not in that moment any more.”
Nadal’s remarks throw doubt on his participation in the Laver Cup, which will be held in London later this month, alongside Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray.
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