Frances Tiafoe ended Rafael Nadal's 22-match winning streak at Grand Slam tournaments by beating the 22-time major champion 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the U.S. Open's fourth round on Monday.
Tiafoe is a 24-year-old from Maryland who is seeded 22nd at Flushing Meadows and reached the second major quarterfinal of his career.
Here's what happened: Tiafoe served better than No. 2 seed Nadal. More surprisingly, he returned better, too. And he kept his cool, remained in the moment and never let the stakes or the opponent get to him. Nadal had won both of their previous matches, and every set they played, too.This surprise came a day after one of Tiafoe's pals, Nick Kyrgios, eliminated No. 1 seed and defending champion Daniil Medvedev.
Nadal tweaked his service motion, tossing the ball lower than he normally does so as not to put as much strain on his midsection while reaching with his racket. There were plenty of signs Monday that his serve is just not in tip-top shape: nine double-faults, a first-serve percentage hovering around 50%, five breaks by Tiafoe.
When one last backhand by Nadal found the net, Tiafoe put his hands on his head. When he sat in his sideline chair, he buried his face in a towel.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Frances Tiafoe ends Rafael Nadal's 22-match Grand Slam streakFrances Tiafoe ended Rafael Nadal\u0027s 22\u002Dmatch winning streak at Grand Slam tournaments by beating the 22\u002Dtime major champ in the U.S. Open.
Read more »
Frances Tiafoe ends Rafael Nadal's 22-match Grand Slam streakFrances Tiafoe ended Rafael Nadal\u0027s 22\u002Dmatch winning streak at Grand Slam tournaments by beating the 22\u002Dtime major champ in the U.S. Open.
Read more »
U.S. OPEN: Kyrgios beats 2021 champ Medvedev, discusses mental stateNEW YORK (AP) — Nick Kyrgios sat in the Arthur Ashe Stadum locker room after ending Daniil Medvedev’s U.S. Open title defense and stay at No. 1 in the rankings…
Read more »
CHAUDHRI: Serena Williams’ retirement highlights systemic sexism in work worldSerena Williams \u002D\u002D arguably the greatest athlete of all time \u002D\u002D retired from professional tennis after her last appearance at the U.S. Open.
Read more »