Frances Tiafoe halts Rafael Nadal’s run at US Open 2022
Frances Tiafoe made it to the quarter-finals of the US Open tennis tournament for the first time, halting Rafael Nadal’s winning campaign in the last 22 matches in Grand Slam competitions. Tiafoe defeated Nadal 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the fourth round match played at the Arthur Ash Stadium. Tiafoe was overwhelmed by this victory. The 24 years old and has been seeded 22nd at the US Open. He is the youngest American player after Andy Roddick (2006) to reach the quarterfinals of this competition.
After the victory over Nadal, Tiafoe said, “I felt like the world had stopped. For a minute I didn’t hear anything.” Tiafoe will now face Andre Rublev, who defeated seventh seed Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Nadal won the Australian Open in January this year and the French Open in June. He then made it to the semi-finals of Wimbledon in July but withdrew from the tournament due to a hamstring strain.
Nadal, a four-time champion at the US Open, was able to play in only one tournament after that. In the women’s section, top seed Iga Swiatek made a brilliant comeback after losing the first set to beat Jule Niemeier 2-6, 6-4, 6-0. She reached the quarterfinals for the first time at Flushing Meadows.
Swiatek will now face eighth seed Jessica Pegula, who comfortably defeated two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-2.
