Just one day after the ouster of defending champion Daniil Medvedev, US Open saw another stunning upset at Arthur Ashe Stadium when Francis Tiafoe eliminated the heavily favoured Rafael Nadal from the tournament.
Tiafoe used his age advantage to romp to a 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3 win, dealing Nadal his first loss in grand slams this year. The Spaniard had won the Australian and French Open this year before withdrawing with an abdominal injury before his semi-final at Wimbledon.
The American also benefitted from an error-prone performance by Nadal, breaking his streak of reaching the quarterfinals or better of 17 straight majors in the process.
Just like in his previous three matches, Nadal was slow off the mark and was broken for 4-3 before dropping the first set. He responded with another resolute comeback to level the contest at one set apiece.
Tiafoe raised his game to match the 22-time major winner, taking the third set and then showing composure to bounce back from being down 3-1 in the fourth set. The American broke once again to seal an unlikely win.
After his memorable win over Nadal, Francis Tiafoe will face Andrey Rublev for a spot in the US Open semifinal on the line.
Rublev overcame Wimbledon semifinalist Cameron Norrie 6-4,6-4,6-4 to reach the next round.
Jannik Sinner also reached the next round with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2,4-6,6-3 win over Ilya Ivashka where he awaits either Carlos Alcaraz or Marin Cilic.
