American Frances Tiafoe upsets Rafael Nadal in 4th round of US Open
The finalist of the US Open got his second chance at the title with a comeback win against Roger Federer at the New York Open on Monday.
World number 11 Tiafoe was beaten 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 by Nadal, who had earlier beaten the 20-year-old in the last 16.
In his first match of the weekend, Tiafoe beat Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-1, while the 27-year-old Serb had never lost his serve since losing in the first round of the 2017 tournament.
Nadal advanced to his sixth semi-final of the year after earning a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Australian Kyle Edmund.
It was the first time since he was beaten in the third round of the US Open in 2015 that Nadal has advanced.
“I never think about my result as I’m just focusing on myself, not on the result at the moment,” Nadal said. “Obviously when you’re playing you want to be on the winning side, but you also have to beat the next opponent, you have to have your chances.
“Today I did everything I could to win, played well when needed, and I think I did that against Roger.”
Federer reached his fourth New York Open semi-final and fourth of the year after the 31-year-old Swiss won his 10th and 11th career titles in the process.
After defeating Dominic Thiem, Federer saved four break points and played superbly to earn a 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 victory.
“I never dreamt I would win another US Open, and now I really believe it is true,” Federer said.
“I am really happy to be able to win another title here. I’m obviously very proud to get two titles. It is an honour to play for the US Open.”
Serena Williams won her 12th title of the season and fifth in the last six years, beating American qualifier Angelique Kerber 6-4, 7-5.
“This is huge for me. Obviously being here when I won in 2013 was huge but it’s also big to be here a couple times in a row,”