American Frances Tiafoe brought an end to Rafael Nadal’s run at the US Open as he won in four sets in their fourth round clash on Monday.
It was a gruelling clash between the pair on Arthur Ashe, and after three hours and 33 minutes Tiafoe came out on top with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Victory in New York City would earn Rafa his 23rd Grand Slam title… But we are very proud of our champ and this season with two major titles in Rafa’s hands is more than amazing to us.
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No one loses easily, Rafa. We were spoiled by your superhuman wins this year, and we always want more. We are not embarrassed. We are reminded that you are mortal, and you have been extraordinary. Many of us have been diminished to some degree by the pandemic, but you fought on, abided by the rules, and succeeded. Thank you for all you
have accomplished. We are not broken. We are proud🙏👏💪👍🎾🍀❤️
That’s a great way of writing this msg…Yes….He’s a LEGEND in every way…Iam sure rest of the WORLD agres..ALL the BEST NADAL..🤞👍
Heartbreaker for sure but as Rafa himself said, he had his chances and missed them. I hate watching him play when he’s down. Imagine how he feels. I hope he goes home and enjoys becoming a Father. I also hope he returns with the changes he needs to make to keep going for another year. No bad day could ever make a true fan see anything but the greatness that is our GOAT, Rafa. Vamos always! We love you, Rafa!! 🎾♥️🐐
Sadness but onwards and upwards Rafa. With all the injuries from the French Open to date – this is not a surprise and he wasn’t playing well. Rest up now. You will always be number 1 to me.
This loss has been on the cards now… Rafa wasn’t playing lights out tennis in his first 3 matches…
Let us not forget that Rafa had to alter his serve for the US Open after the abdominal tear. Our champ gave it all he could, but he simply fell short to an amazing player today.
2 slams out of 4? I’ll take that! Personally after Rafa won the AO earlier this year, he could do no wrong. I’m proud of the effort that Rafa put in. He was not in peak condition heading to the US but he went there and put his record on the line.
I can only hope Rafa does not announce anything silly like a retirement anytime soon:):) With that upcoming screaming baby, he will need an excuse to get out of the house more:):)
Hee hee, love that positive attitude from a true Rafa fan! He will come back healthier and stronger for sure! Already drooling for the French open! 😊
Me too hope the baby arrives safely and then his mind can be back on the job of tennis
Thank you Mac for very comforting comment but I am trying to convince my heart about the retirement of Rafa in next french open. I don’t think his body will survive for tennis after that. Fingers crossed but big opportunity missed here. We are always with you Rafa. Thank you for the memories this year
Mac, great comment. You said everything I was thinking.
So very sad to see Rafa go out like this but he gave his all and was not fully fit. Enjoy time now with your wife and await the birth of your precious baby. He will be back and we will all be with him 💕
Embarrasing loss today for the champ. He got overpowerd by tiafoe and did not how to play him. Nadal hit 10 double faults today that is absoluty embarassing for someone who won 22 grandslam titles. Rafa served bad today returned bad today because he couldnt read tiafoe serve and also couldnt find solutions he did not once played serve volley.
Watching nadal matches has been very painful to watch lately due to lack of serving and returning. Why is nadal unable to have a good first serve and return. Why does he not add someone to his team who can help him to improve his serve since he always talked about improvement. I mean he was leading in the fourth set and got broken back due to 2 double faults its mind boggling.
The season turned out to be to long for rafa. In that case you should respect the accomplishment of djokovic last year. Nadal screwed a big chance to win a 23 title. His season has turned out to be a dissapointment. I mean we all know that rafa won in australia due to absence of djokovic. The momentum has shifted now to djokovic. I expect novak to play in melbourne last year determined to win the title. Go home champ and spend time with your wife I hope everything will be alright with her and your soon to be borned son.
I am done watching nadal matches for the moment. Hopefully krygios will win the us open.
You are right. Karma to get Vaxdal.
Hello! Not the right time to be so cynical of the great Rafa Nadal. Once a fan, always a fan. But to stomp on him like that is completely unnecessary. Clearly Rafa was not in his best shape but he tried his very best and it was not meant to be. Boo to you!
Agree you can’t win them all and he isn’t fully fit
Goodness. Dont hold back will you!!
Hey there! Rafa won two majors this year. No one else did! Dude, go take it easy on yourself and Rafa! Wishing Rafa and his family and team nothing but the best!
I am going to enjoy watching Rafa for as long as he chooses to play tennis. Don’t forget he came so close to calling an end to his career, but his miraculous 2022, true fans, and supportive family and team motivated him to keep going. 🙂
Well said👍
@Marijnt – don’t know why you’re on this board as you’re obviously not a Rafa fan! Rafa did his best, that is all you can ask and I don’t think it’s embarrassing when a great athlete has an off day – they all do even your beloved Djokovic! Tiafoe played well and Rafa’s game was just not there today! And winning two Grand Slams in one year is not a disappointing season. BTW plenty of people have beaten Djokovic including Rafa, Medevev, Zverev, Alcarez – shall I go on? ha, ha!!!
Marjnt, thank You sure are a strange fan, so critical and negative. You have all the answers. Frankly I think you are a Novak. Rafa won the AO on merit.
Go support Novak as you have little to offer here with your negativity.
Rafa is an extraordinary champion. a a great person
I agree Tennis Girl. Marijnt is not and never has been a true Rafafan. No genuine fan of Rafa would criticise him in the way that he does. He clearly doesn’t respect or care for Rafa or his amazing legacy. Truly pathetic.
Why the harsh criticism; on this site of all sites! I will never understand why so-called Rafafans are so critical of Rafa on the rare occasions when he doesn’t play well! He is not a machine. Everyone knows that Rafa always lays everything on the line whenever he plays; no matter how he feels on the day and sometimes he feels really bad!
I wasn’t able to watch this match but if Rafa was not able to serve well it could well be because his recent very painful and debilitating abdominal injury has returned. No-one can serve well with an abdominal strain, not even Rafa and if he couldn’t serve well that would have undoubtedly affected the rest of his game. He will be reluctant to blame that of course because, being the great sportsman that he is, Rafa will not want to take anything away from Tiafoe’s surprising win.
I suspect Rafa would have taken more time off to fully recover from his injury but for the fact that he is 36 and he knows there won’t be too many more opportunities for him to win a Major before he retires. Such a shame. (Let’s hope it has nothing to do with his wife.) In the meantime, let’s wish Rafa all the best for a full recovery. He will be very disappointed to have lost today; as are we. Let’s leave the unwarranted harsh criticism to those who don’t understand or care about him.
When I first came onto this site many years ago I would read Marijnt posts & I wondered why he would write such terrible things on a site that was meant to express their Love admiration for Rafa.It didn’t take me long to figure him out. He is a Psycho and feeds off of the negative response that he gets… The best thing you can do is ignore him. He is entitled to his own opinion & honestly I don’t know what he’s doing on this site!
I agree with the previous comment, Rafa was not totally himself and Tiafo is a tough opponent. Please take time to rest and he soon will be a father so that will be a great time in his life!
I cried a little at end of this match, I am mot used to seeing him lose, but he did try to come back and I had my fingers crossed, hoping….
You will always be the champ in my eyes no matter what.
❤️
Tough one but Tiafoe was the better player. Hard but true.
Rafa had no idea how to play him. Tiafoe had a great backhand today, because Rafa was much to short. Rafa served and returned bad – so you can’t win a match.
Rafa was not ready for this tournament after the injury. Maybe he should end the year, the chance to be world number one at the end of the year is for me not realistic anymore.
Take some weeks off, enjoy the time with Xisca and the baby and than be ready for the start of 2023.
Always with you❤️
Tough loss for Rafa, but he plans to play laver cup with fed. Would like to see him play paris indoors and year end atp finals too. Hopefully he can finish 2022 as #1. Winning paris indoors and atp finals for first time ever would be nice, too. Dreaming of seeing more from Rafa this year!
Agreed 💯. He didn’t have the ideal preparation but that’s the way the chips fall sometimes. as a Rafa fan I’m sad he lost but i said it earlier, he was not ready to win the USO this year. Alcaraz, kyrgios, Sinner were my favorites to win and now Ruud and berretini are in the mix. Tiafoe was a surprise but after Schwartzman i was not surprised to see this result. Regardless, wishing rafa well for the future. Time for both new gen and next gen at least for now.
I felt really bad that he lost. Try again at the next game. Your still geat!!