“I really don’t know what happened,” said Tiafoe in his on-court interview, which happened to be hosted by that same James Blake who beat Nadal here in 2005. The son of immigrants who had fled the civil war in Sierra Leone, he was brought up at the Junior Tennis Champions Centre in Maryland, where his father was the head of maintenance. Tiafoe is one of the great stories of American tennis. Down the home stretch, which saw Tiafoe reel off five of the last six games, he regularly buried the ball in the net. Tiafoe was helped by an indifferent serving performance from Nadal, whose ongoing abdominal issue has restricted how much he can practise that shot.Īpart from one period of high intensity in the middle of the third set, Nadal was generally erratic, particularly on his double-handed backhand. And no male player had beaten anyone ranked as high as Nadal at this tournament since 2005, when James Blake took down the same opponent. On the men’s side, you have to go back to Andy Roddick in 2003 to find the last champion. American successes have been in short supply here since Sloane Stephens won the US Open title in 2017. Some members of the crowd booed Nadal when he eventually returned to the court, in keeping with an afternoon when patriotism gripped this 24,000-seat arena. He needed a seven-minute break after the first set, during which he apparently visited the physio as well as the bathroom. He achieved that by defeating Nadal and Novak Djokovic, which no player had ever done in back-to-back matches in the same clay court tournament.Nadal has been battling his body and his game all tournament. In May, he became the youngest player to ever compete in a Madrid Open final. I have to stay in the match, trying to stay calm, but it's difficult to stay calm in that moment.'Īlthough Rafael Nadal is still the most recognizable tennis star from Spain, Alcaraz is making a name for himself. 'I always say that you have to believe in yourself all the time,' Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. During the decider, Sinner also found himself leading by a break, but Alcaraz never doubted himself. The Italian star Sinner was serving for the win at 5-4 in the fourth set, but Alcaraz saved the match point and forced a fifth set. Sinner had a couple chances to win the match, but Alcaraz showed his resilience. 📹 /vQQrdzcqVH- CBS Sports September 8, 2022 Alcaraz just did one of the coolest things you'll ever see on a tennis court

Latest tennis scores us open