Rafael Nadal does not want to deal with tennis for a while. The impending birth of his first child now comes first. That said the 36-year-old Spaniard after his elimination from the US Open. The number three in the world lost in the fourth round in four sets to the American Frances Tiafoe (6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3).
“I’m going home now, because I have more important things on my mind than tennis. I want to end the year with something really beautiful and that’s my first child,” said Nadal.
‘Not young and fast enough’
For the four-time winner of the tournament in New York, it marked his first loss of the season at the grand slam level. He won the Australian Open and Roland Garros this year and gave up in the Wimbledon semifinals with an abdominal muscle injury.
Nadal did not say whether he will return to the tennis court this year. “It also depends on how my personal life is going. That is now beyond my existence as a professional. I do have something to repair and so I don’t know when I will return. I also have to be mentally ready for it,” said Nadal, who qualified for the final tournament of the ATP Tour in Turin in November.
Nadal was hard on himself after his loss to Tiafoe. “I was up against a player who was better than me. Tennis is also a sport of positional play. You have to be very fast and very young and I am not at the moment,” he said. “I could do little to upset him.”
The 36-year-old Nadal could have won his 23rd Grand Slam title in New York. Novak Djokovic has 21 to his name, Roger Federer one less.
Tiafoe has never made it to the last eight in his own country. He managed to do that at the Australian Open in 2019, but since then he has performed very erratically. This year he is having the best season of his career.
“I don’t know what to say, I’m almost in tears after this win over one of the greatest tennis players of all time,” said Tiafoe.
It is the biggest win for an American at the US Open since James Blake was also too strong for Nadal in 2005, then the world number two. In the quarterfinals, Tiafoe will face Russia’s Andrei Roeblev, who defeated Briton Cameron Norrie in three sets.
The Spanish top talent Carlos Alcaraz has also reached the quarterfinals, deep in the night from Monday to Tuesday (Dutch time). He beat Croatian Marin Cilic (6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3) in a duel that lasted almost four hours. (ANP)
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of September 7, 2022