Frances Tiafoe superior to his first U.S. Open quarterfinal following a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 upset of No. 2 Rafael Nadal on Monday.
With the end result, Tiafoe joined choose firm as he comprehensively dispatched the long run Corridor of Famer:
He had 49 winners to 33 for Nadal and hit 18 aces. It is not typically you see Nadal as overwhelmed as he was at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Tiafoe wasn’t essentially dominant via the primary three rounds of the match, however he gained every match in straight units as a result of he constantly delivered within the huge moments.
One such event arrived within the opening set with Nadal serving at 3-3. The 24-year-old earned a service break to take his first lead of the match.
That set the stage for Tiafoe to enter the tenth sport up 5-4 and serving for the set. On his first set level, he hammered a forehand down the road to get Nadal out huge and arrange a winner on the web together with his subsequent shot.
Correct order was restored within the second set because the battle-tested Nadal started ratcheting up the stress on Tiafoe. Along with his opponent serving to remain alive, Nadal could not capitalize on his first break-point probability however watched on as a double fault leveled the match at one set apiece.
That did little to shake Tiafoe’s confidence. He captured what proved to be the one break level of the third set, which was the decisive second to assist him declare a 2-1 lead.
Nadal’s fame precedes him. Loads of followers anticipated the southpaw to dig down deep and hit a brand new stage. When he was youthful, the 22-time Grand Slam champion might have been capable of come again.
On Monday, it wasn’t to be.
Tiafoe started to wobble a bit within the fourth set when he dropped serve to fall behind 1-3. He maintained his poise to earn what is likely to be a defining lead to his profession if this alerts what’s to come back.
Tiafoe will play Andrey Rublev within the quarterfinals. The pair have break up their first two conferences, with Rublev popping out on high most lately at Indian Wells in March.
