Tiafoe

Frances Tiafoe defeats Rafael Nadal for the first time to reach the US Open quarter-finals. © Mike Stobe/Getty Images. ATP Staff Sep 06, 2022.

“I was already tearing. I was so excited. I was like, ‘Let me sit down’. His reward for doing so is a maiden trip to the [US Open](https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview) quarter-finals and a deafening reception from the [Arthur Ashe](https://www.atptour.com/en/players/arthur-ashe/a063/overview) Stadium crowd. “I was telling my agent, I felt like the world stopped. His first tennis match, that was super cool, talking to him after,” Tiafoe said. One of the best players in the NBA, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, also tweeted about Tiafoe’s match. So to see him post that, I was like, ‘Do I retweet it as soon as he sent it?’ I was like, ‘You know what, I'm going to be cool and act like I didn't see it and then retweet it three hours later.’ Tiafoe, who is from the Washington area, is a big Wizards fan. That was not the only basketball player who tuned into Tiafoe’s victory. Bro, I was going crazy,” Tiafoe said, cracking a smile. “CONGRATS Young King!!!

Frances Tiafoe pulled off the performance of his career as he overpowered and outhit 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal to make the US Open quarter-finals ...

Tiafoe went on to break Nadal again before holding at 5-3. You have to thread the needle and play high risk otherwise you keep running like a yo-yo." Despite the result Nadal will still return to world No. He is one of the greatest of all time, I played unbelievable tennis today, I really don’t know what happened." US Open Nadal broke early in the fourth set and the early signs suggested the match was going to a fifth set, but he couldn’t consolidate the break.

Tiafoe received a pleasant surprise from the Los Angeles Lakers superstar after advancing to his first US Open quarterfinals.

"Man, I was losing it in the locker room," Tiafoe told reporters later while laughing. "It was cool. Special day for me." He also said Rich Paul, James' agent, sent him a text after the match to congratulate him. You earned it!" Alongside a video of the match's final moments posted by the tournament's account, James wrote, "CONGRATS Young King!!!

“To see them experience me beat Rafa Nadal — they've seen me have big wins, but to beat those 'Mount Rushmore' guys? For them, I can't imagine what was going ...

Earlier in the tournament, he lost the first set of his first-round match. Then he made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon in July before withdrawing from that tournament because of a torn abdominal muscle. “At the end that’s it.” No concern now: He grabbed the last five games. 2 Gustavo Kuerten in the first. And he kept his cool, remained in the moment and never let the stakes or the opponent get to him. “I mean, they’re going to remember today for the rest of their lives.” That makes this the first U.S. His parents both emigrated to the United States from Sierra Leone in West Africa amid its civil war in the 1990s. Open since Andy Roddick in 2006, but this was not a case of a one-sided crowd backing one of its own. For them, I can’t imagine what was going through their heads,” said Tiafoe, a 24-year-old American seeded 22nd at the U.S. He was thrilled — overwhelmed, even — when the last point was over and it hit him that, yes, he had ended Rafael Nadal's 22-match Grand Slam winning streak Monday and reached the U.S.

Pour son retour à New York depuis son titre en 2019, Rafael Nadal est tombé de haut: l'Espagnol a été éliminé lundi dès les 8es de finale de l'US Open par ...

J'ai joué un tennis incroyable, je ne sais pas ce qui s'est passé", a-t-il confié à chaud, sur un nuage, avant de quitter le court Arthur-Ashe où l'exploit et l'ovation du public lui avaient embué les yeux. Lui a su le faire, il a joué avec la bonne détermination", a-t-il ajouté. De mon côté, j'ai eu mes chances, et si je veux être en quarts, je dois jouer mieux que ça", a estimé l'Espagnol de 36 ans. "Il faut être prêt à saisir les chances qui se présentent. Cette 8e journée de l'US Open verra le phénomène espagnol, Carlos Alcaraz (4e), tenter de se qualifier pour les quarts (comme l'an dernier pour sa première participation), en affrontant le Croate Marin Cilic (17e et lauréat 2014). Pour son retour à New York depuis son titre en 2019, Rafael Nadal est tombé de haut: l'Espagnol a été éliminé lundi dès les 8es de finale de l'US Open par l'Américain Frances Tiafoe qui a su le prendre de vitesse.

The world's 26th-ranked player upset the 22-time Grand Slam champion on Monday to earn the biggest victory of his career.

LeBron James, Bradley Beal and the NBA’s Wizards and WNBA’s Mystics, two of Tiafoe’s hometown teams were among those who weighed in on the historic moment. The 24-year-old College Park, Maryland native is also the first American to beat Nadal in a major since James Blake in 2005, and the youngest American man to reach a U.S. [biggest win of his career](https://www.si.com/tennis/2022/09/05/rafael-nadal-stunned-by-american-frances-tiafoe-at-u-s-open) Monday in a stunning fourth-round upset of Rafael Nadal at the U.S.

L'Américain Frances Tiafoe a éliminé Rafael Nadal lundi, aux Internationaux des États-Unis, à New York.

L’athlète de 24 ans atteint pour la première fois les quarts de finale à Flushing Meadows. Tiafoe a pris la mesure de l’Espagnol en quatre manches de 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 et 6-3. L’Américain Frances Tiafoe a éliminé Rafael Nadal lundi, aux Internationaux des États-Unis, à New York.

Pour son retour à New York depuis son titre en 2019, Rafael Nadal est tombé de haut : l'Espagnol a été éliminé lundi dès les huitièmes de finale des ...

Il y a deux semaines, elle avait été sortie au premier tour d’un tournoi du circuit ITF de catégorie inférieure dans le Bronx. J’ai joué un tennis incroyable, je ne sais pas ce qui s’est passé», a-t-il confié à chaud, sur un nuage, avant de quitter le court Arthur-Ashe où l’exploit et l’ovation du public lui avaient embué les yeux. Mais il est 0 en 2 à cette étape à New York - et 0-5 dans l’ensemble des tournois majeurs. Probablement bien soulagée d’avoir évité sa première défaite en Grand Chelem face à une joueuse classée au-delà du 100e rang mondial. Lui a su le faire, il a joué avec la bonne détermination», a-t-il ajouté. De mon côté, j’ai eu mes chances, et si je veux être en quarts, je dois jouer mieux que ça», a estimé l’Espagnol de 36 ans.

Tiafoe, a Hyattsville, Md., native, joined Andy Roddick and James Blake as the only Americans to defeat Nadal in a Grand Slam tournament.

She rose from 76th in the world at the end of that year to a career-high seventh this season after teaming up with David Witt, Venus Williams’s former longtime coach, and dedicating more time to the professional side of professional tennis: eating right, preparing thoroughly and taking care of her body. But in the next game, Nadal served two double faults and Tiafoe didn’t let the chance slip through his fingers. Am I ever going to be able to say I beat one of them? Today I was like, no, I’m going to do that,” Tiafoe said. “The biggest thing with things like that is the time I played him before, I got broken so early in each set,” Tiafoe said. Tiafoe’s victory denied Nadal the chance to expand his lead over Novak Djokovic (21) and Federer (20) in Grand Slam wins. His physical improvement has led to a He was the first man to beat Nadal at a major this year, with the Spaniard having won the Australian Open and the French Open. He had been practicing with a high level of intensity ahead of the tournament but couldn’t serve with the same ferocity because scar tissue on his abdomen limited his movement. When he clinched it by forcing a backhand error from Nadal, he chucked his racket toward his chair and placed his hands around his head. He is through to his first U.S. But Monday, with a smart, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Rafael Nadal, he displayed a tactician’s discipline in ousting the 22-time Grand Slam champion.

Frances Tiafoe becomes the first American man to reach the quarter-finals in New York since John Isner in 2018. © Mike Stobe/Getty Images.

[Marcos Giron](https://www.atptour.com/en/players/marcos-giron/gc88/overview), [Jason Kubler](https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jason-kubler/kb95/overview) and [Diego Schwartzman](https://www.atptour.com/en/players/diego-schwartzman/sm37/overview) in straight sets during the opening week in New York and is now up to No. [Carlos Alcaraz](https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-alcaraz/a0e2/overview) and Norway’s [Casper Ruud](https://www.atptour.com/en/players/casper-ruud/rh16/overview). Earlier this season he enjoyed a run to the final in Estoril, before he advanced to the fourth round at [Wimbledon](https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview). 2 Spaniard in the third round in 2005. [Arthur Ashe](https://www.atptour.com/en/players/arthur-ashe/a063/overview) Stadium to earn his third Top 5 win. “When I first came on the scene I felt like a lot of people had a lot of expectations on me on how I would do,” Tiafoe said. He then hit a double fault at 30/40 to gift the Spaniard the set. Tiafoe stuck to his game plan, though, and worked his way back into the set. 1](https://www.atptour.com/en/news/nadal-alcaraz-ruud-us-open-2022-world-no-1-scenarios). When serving at 4-5, 15/15, the American misjudged a backhand from Nadal, leaving a ball that caught the line. In a lively first set, Tiafoe quickly found his range from the baseline. Tiafoe had never won a set against Nadal and trailed the Spaniard 0-2 in their ATP Head2Head series prior to their meeting in New York.