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New York: Second seed Rafael Nadal crashed out of US Open after he was defeated by Frances Tiafoe in a fourth-round match. The Spaniard lost to Frances Tiafoe with 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3 scoreline.
Nadal, who won this year’s Australian Open and French Open, was leading 3-1 in the fourth set before Tiafoe won six games in a row to pull off a sensational win.
A packed Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd roared in delight as the 24-year-old 22nd seed bombarded Nadal with 18 aces and 49 winners to seal victory in 3hr 34min.
The win sends Tiafoe into a last eight showdown against Russian ninth seed Andrey Rublev on Wednesday.
“I don’t even know what to say right now,” Tiafoe said after his superb victory. “I’m beyond happy, I’m almost in tears. I can’t believe it.
“He’s definitely one of the greatest of all time. I played unbelievable tennis today but yeah – I really don’t know what happened.”
Tiafoe, the son of immigrants from Sierra Leone who began playing tennis as a four-year-old when his father worked as a live-in caretaker at a tennis facility in Maryland, had never gone further than the fourth round at the US Open in seven previous appearances.
“When I first came on the scene a lot of people had expectations of me of how I would do and stuff, but I wasn’t ready for it. Mentally I wasn’t mature enough for those moments,” Tiafoe said.
“But these last couple of years I’ve been able to put my head down and develop.”
Nadal paid tribute to Tiafoe’s performance and admitted he had struggled to cope with the American’s tactic of moving him around the court.
Tiafoe will now face ninth seed Andrey Rublev on Wednesday.
