Rafa Nadal stops his unbeaten streak in the majors against Tiafoe in the round of 16 of the US Open – Marca

Rafael Nadal said goodbye to the US Open this Monday in the round of 16, something that had not happened since 2016. The Spaniard, who has not arrived in the best conditions for the American hard court tour after breaking his abdominal, has plunged the knee against Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 and 6-3, in 3 hours and 34 minutes. To find the last defeat of the Spanish in a ‘major’, you had to go back to the semifinals of Roland Garros 2021 with Novak Djokovic. Goodbye to the streak of 22 consecutive wins. Nadal virtually keeps Daniil Medvedev’s number one, but he will lose it if Carlos Alcaraz or Casper Ruud reach the final. In the case of the Murcian, who plays the fourth round with Marin Cilic at dawn, he aspires to become the youngest ATP leader in history. At the Australian Open 2023, from January 16 to 29, the race to be the GOAT of the racket will resume with the question of whether Djokovic will be able to enter the country since he has not been vaccinated from the coronavius ​​and has been deported and if Roger Federer return to a big stage. Nadal’s 22 Grand Slam titles compared to Djokovic’s 21 and Federer’s 20. Tiafoe, like Rinky Hijikata and Fabio Fognini, scored the first set of the match against an opponent with less spark than usual. The American took over the Spaniard’s service in the seventh round and kept the lead to take advantage on the scoreboard. Frances, with service tips at 222 kilometers per hour, did not give the rest the option to the four-time champion of the New York tournament. Nadal was sweating profusely in his first appearance in the day session in New York. The ball boys had to permanently dry the track after each of their service games. He went to the locker room to change his clothing, which was different from the one he had used in the night session because the US multinational Nike designs two kits for him. Nadal returns 9 minutes later The American asked Carlos Bernardes because Rafa took 9 minutes to return to the court. The chair umpire later agreed with him. The explanation is that the Spaniard had asked for assistance to bandage his wrists because the sweat that fell from his arms made it difficult to grip his racket. Tiafoe laughed to keep from crying. First game of the second set and Nadal won it blank. “The weather is better, you’ll recover,” they told him from the bench. The humidity, which caused him to lose a lot of fluid through sweat, made him feel slower than usual. Carlos Moy, one of his trainers, asked him to be “more aggressive.” The answer was forceful: “I have it clear”. Nadal changed his shirt again on court with a 4-3 lead. He barely had time to run to the young Yankee’s game-winning shots. He was playing in 29 degrees and 51 percent humidity. The team’s second favorite went from suffering to get through the ninth game to achieving his first ‘break’ in the tenth, the one that was worth him to sign the tables in the scoring was with a double fault. Tiafoe was beginning to feel the pressure of playing in front of a legend. However, he kept believing and that helped him believe until he recovered his best repertoire of shots from the white line. It was in the seventh game that he broke his decorated opponent’s serve for the second time with a flawless backhand down the line. He served him to take the lead and resumed his show running to the change chair. Rafa’s body language wasn’t the best but he was jumping for joy as he scored the first game after the break because he had lifted a break ball that could have been decisive. The roof of the largest center in the world was closed by the threat of rain while the American served for the second time in the fourth set. Frances was distracted and it cost her the break. People went crazy because what they wanted most was to watch tennis. The score was 3-1. What happens is that the local tennis player was facing the opportunity of a lifetime for him and he didn’t want to miss it. Third ‘break’ for him. He came to chain five games to touch the glory. This is the ATP ranking right now Rafael Nadal 5,810 Daniil Medvedev 5,065 Casper Ruud 5,010 Carlos Alcaraz 4,920 Laver Cup, next stop Nadal returns to Spain and will compete again from September 23 to 25 in his friend Roger Federer’s Laver Cup at the O2 Arena From london. There it is expected that they will meet again for another historic doubles. Then you will be sure of the Masters 1,000 in Paris-Bercy and the Masters Cup in Turin. Close the season with a series of exhibitions throughout Latin America.