After the loss, Rafael Nadal, who was attempting to win a record-tying 23rd Grand Slam title, was dejected and said he…
The Spanish player was obviously hindered by the abdominal strain that required him to withdraw before his July Wimbledon semi-final, but he persevered admirably to produce an exciting exhibition on Arthur Ashe Court. Nevertheless, Tiafoe’s accuracy with the stroke proved to be too much for the Spaniard, as the American recovered from a break down in the fourth set to win 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3 in three hours and thirty-three minutes.
After finishing in the top eight at the Australian Open in 2019, Tiafoe has reached just two Grand Slam quarterfinals in his career. He will now play Andrey Rublev after the Russian defeated British No. 1 Cameron Norrie in straight sets earlier on Monday.
“I’m so ecstatic that I could cry. “It’s unbelievable,” Tiafoe said in his post-match interview on the court. “He is without a doubt among the finest of all time. I truly don’t know what happened, but I played amazing tennis today. “I came out not giving Rafa all the respect, I came out to win a tennis match in front of you guys.”
Nadal, who had already won the Australian and French Open this year, had only played one match prior to the US Open due to his withdrawal from Wimbledon, but he had persevered through the opening three rounds in New York to increase his Grand Slam winning streak to 22 matches. Given that the Spaniard is now slated to play in the Laver Cup in London later this month, it is unclear if he will play again this year given the extent of his obvious physical issues during Monday’s loss.
