American Frances Tiafoe upsets Rafael Nadal in 4th round of US Open
U.S.—If there’s one thing that will always come with a player like the U.S. Open, it’s a third round upset from a player who’s been around a while. But on Friday night, there was a player who hadn’t played in over a decade, who had just begun to make a name for himself, and who was no longer a contender for an ATP singles title, who ended up taking out one of the sport’s best players and knocking the top seed out in the third round.
The man, by the way, did not actually go by Rafael Nadal. The man, by the way, did not actually go by Rafael Nadal.
“It was pretty fun. I got a great round of 4-0, and then they went 4-1 up and I got a great game out of them,” Tiafoe told reporters when asked to compare his experience to his former compatriot’s. “They took me deep in a Grand Slam, and I thought my career was over.”
And then, like any good kid, he turned to his parents for advice.
“I mean, they’re just like, ‘Keep playing, continue to play, keep serving, go out there and play.’ And they’re right,” the 6-foot-3, 255-pound right hander said. “I was just like really, really upset. I was like, ‘I’ve been in this situation before. I’m not going to lose to someone I’m not even playing against.’ I had been in the position before. I’ve been in that spot before.
“I just had to pull up to that point, and I just kept playing, and I didn’t give it up.”
Here at American, we can’t be as surprised as the kid, but we’re going to try to make an argument for the man.
It’s a rare case where a tennis player at any level should feel a little bit