The Spanish Rafael Nadal fell on Monday against the American Francis Tiafoe in the round of 16 of the US Open, where he aspired to increase his advantage as a tennis player with the most Grand Slam titles in history.
Nadal, number three in the ATP, succumbed to Tiafoe (26th) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on the center court in New York and conceded his first defeat in his 23 matches of the year in tournaments of Grand Slam.
The Spaniard, who remains with 22 Grand Slam trophies (for 21 of the absent Novak Djokovic), still has options to unseat Daniil Medvedev from number one in the ATP this week, also eliminated in the round of 16.
At 36 years old, Nadal will regain the leadership of the ranking whenever the two candidates who are still in contention, the young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and the Norwegian Casper Ruud, lose in the semifinals or previous rounds.
“I congratulate him (Tiafoe), there are no excuses at all. I am completely happy to admit that he was much better than me today,” Nadal said in a press conference minutes after the game. “In the end I have to analyze why I was not able to create the damage that I usually do.”
Nadal, who had already gone through turbulence in the first two meetings in New York, was weighed down by a lackluster performance on serve against an energetic and extra-motivated Tiafoe, who was on the hunt for the biggest victory of his career.
“I don’t even know what to say now. I’m more than happy, I can’t believe it”, Tiafoe acknowledged after breaking down in tears as he saw his last point go in.
“Definitely (Nadal) is one of the best in history. I played amazing tennis but I really don’t know what happened,” said Tiafoe, who will play the first quarter of his at Flushing Meadows against Russia’s Andrey Rublev.
The burly American, who has never broken past the quarter-finals in a major tournament, held off Nadal’s every attempt to take flight thanks to his powerful serve (18 aces to his opponent’s 9) and inspired forehand.
The loss prevents Nadal from a third Grand Slam title this season, in which he lifted the Australian Open and Roland Garros trophies and retired due to injury before the Wimbledon semifinals.
“Fifteen minutes after losing the last Grand Slam of the year, everything is dark, difficult to see what is coming, but it is normal,” Nadal said. “There is nothing left to go on and I trust that I continue to have the inner strength.”
The Spaniard, whose wife is pregnant with their first child, said he will now focus on his personal life before deciding on his next challenges.
“Now I have to go home, I have more important things than tennis to attend to, and then the decisions that must be made will be made based on how everything goes in my personal life, which comes before my professional life,” he stressed.
In the previous one, Nadal had recognized that he needed to improve the tennis shown in New York to beat Tiafoe for the third time in their clashes.
Dominating the game with a sharp serve, the American took advantage of two errors by Nadal with the backhand to break his serve, for the first time in the three duels they have held.
The actor Ben Stiller, with whom Nadal has shared dinner in New York, watched the scene from the same box, along with the tennis player’s father and sister.
The Spaniard, who snorted at Tiafoe’s aim in difficult winners (48 in total), saved two set points but could not with the third.
Nadal was forced to row against the current as in the first two games against Rinky Hijikata and Fabio Fognini.
It didn’t take long for the American to show that he wasn’t going to settle for winning a set against the Spaniard.
Tiafoe remained unassailable on serve until he allowed the first break point opportunity to Nadal, who made it his own to take a 4-5 lead and pocket the second set.
With a good part of his compatriots applauding the Spaniard, Tiafoe quickly digested the loss of the advantage and it was even he who gave encouragement to his own team.
So launched was the American that he achieved a ‘break’ with a backhand in the race and did not stop accelerating to his chair.
Tiafoe no longer let the advantage slip away and finished the set with an ace.
In the last round, Nadal made several attempts to rebel against defeat, cheering himself up with shouts, jumps and a raised fist after great blows, but he never managed to change the dynamic of the game.
The American returned an initial service break and then neutralized two break points against a Nadal who was already mentally accepting defeat. (D)
Source: Eluniverso
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