American Frances Tiafoe earned his first win against Rafael Nadal with a brilliant performance Monday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium. The No. 22 seed took out the 22-time Grand Slam singles champion, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, to advance to his second Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Big Foe comes up with the big win! 🙌
Catch the rest of today's action on The Changeover. https://t.co/5E1bZtj5k7
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2022
Tiafoe is the first American to beat Nadal at a Grand Slam since Blake, and only the third American overall to achieve that feat (Roddick, 2004 US Open).
“I played unbelievable tennis today. I really don’t even know what happened,” Tiafoe said on court after the win.
“At 4-3, when I went up 40-love, my legs were like cement,” the American added.
“I felt like the world stopped,” he said later in his press conference, describing the moment he won. “I couldn’t hear anything for a minute. Even shaking his hand, I don’t even know what I said to him. It was such a blur.
“You see all these young guys get Rafa, Fed, Novak. 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,” said Tiafoe, who admitted his legs “were like cement” as the finish line approached in the fourth set.
“(After winning match point) I felt like the world stopped. I couldn’t hear anything for a minute. Even shaking his hand, I don’t even know what I said to him. It was such a blur.
“Like, I was already tearing (up). I could barely see him and my team. Everyone was up. It was just wild. My heart is going a thousand miles an hour. I was so excited. I was like, Let me sit down.
“I’ve never felt something like that in my life, honestly.”
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