Picture Credit: US Open
American Frances Tiafoe shocked the world as he defeated Rafael Nadal 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the US Open to reach the quarter-final stage. The 24-year-old played fearlessly as he registered his third Top 5 win in a three-hour, 31-minute thriller on Arthur Ashe Stadium. He is now the first American man to reach the last eight in New York since John Isner in 2018.
After this historic and memorable win over the current Australian and French Open winner, Tiafoe was highly emotional as he was fighting back his tears. This victory over title Nadal at the US Open 2022 was the biggest win by an American man at the US Open since James Blake defeated the then-World No. 2 Spaniard in the third round in 2005.
The US Open Twitter account shared the video of Tiafoe celebrating his win with the jampacked crowd at Flushing Meadows. The video was captioned saying "Have a moment Frances Tiafoe!"
While speaking in his post-match interview, Tiafoe was extremely happy with his performance and still then couldn’t believe what he had done. He said, "I'm beyond happy, almost in tears, I can't believe it. I played unbelievable tennis today. I really don't know what happened."
He further talked about the fourth set and his approach when his feet weren’t moving well. “At 4-3 [in the fourth set], when I went up 40/0, my legs were like cement,” Tiafoe said. “I just needed to get out of the game and then pray to god that I don’t have to serve for it. I was lucky enough to get out of that game. I came out not giving Rafa all the respect. I came out to win a tennis match if front of you guys.”
