Rafael Nadal was not allowed to break away – Newspaper Kommersant No. 164 (7365) of 09/07/2022

The main event of the first day of the second week of the US Open was the failure of Rafael Nadal, who lost in four sets to American Francis Tiafoe. Thus, the famous Spaniard will not be able to win his 23rd Grand Slam victory in New York and increase the minimum lead over Novak Djokovic in the dispute for the most prestigious tennis record of all time.

Fans of Rafael Nadal, of course, categorically disagree with such a statement, but tennis as a whole won more than lost from the Spaniard’s New York failure. After all, the leitmotif, the most discussed topic of this sport for several months now, has been the struggle for the record for the number of victories in Grand Slam tournaments, which, by the way, was single-handedly owned by their 20-time champion Roger Federer not so long ago. Yielding one title to Novak Djokovic and two to Rafael Nadal, the famous Swiss, like the whole world, now from the side continues to observe the magnificent rivalry between the Spaniard and the Serb with the maximum degree of intrigue. And this rivalry will certainly continue, as Djokovic, who won Wimbledon two months ago, does not lose hope of catching up with Nadal.

However, Rafael Nadal, the current champion of the Australian Open and Roland Garros, for his 36 years, to put it mildly, is quite good. Suffice it to say that in four majors this year he lost only one match (the Spaniard had to withdraw from the Wimbledon semi-finals due to injury). And in order to create a sensation, Nadal’s next opponent, the 26th racket of the world, Francis Tiafoe, needed to demonstrate the best tennis of his career.

This 24-year-old black American is a few months younger than Andrei Rublev and two years younger than Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov, but, in fact, belongs to the same generation. Already at the age of 15, he won the Orange Bowl, a very prestigious tournament for juniors under 18, which is held in Florida. However, at the professional level, there were no such bright take-offs on Tiafoe’s account before. His best result at the Grand Slam tournaments so far was the quarterfinals of the Australian Open 2019, and he has never made it into the top twenty of the ranking.

At the same time, Tiafoe has his own pronounced playing style, based on the ability to aggravate the situation from anywhere on the court, and charisma, and the ability to play in public.

By the way, in this case, Tiafoe helped a lot, although Nadal in America has a lot of his loyal fans. It cannot be said that the compatriots supported the American as fiercely as Serena Williams a few days ago, but the uproar in the arena of Arthur Ashe was notable.

And after all, the Americans actually had a reason to make a lot of noise. Tiafoe showed very high quality tennis for himself. For almost the entire game, he maintained maximum concentration and managed to hit the ball with the center of the racket, that is, exactly as required to give it maximum speed. Of course, in order to defeat Nadal, any of his opponents need to show their maximum. But in this case, the American hardly crossed the line that in tennis separates the tactics of reasonable risk from adventurism and recklessness.

If Tiafoe were not so bold and accurate, the Spaniard would most likely be able to get out by turning on his signature survival mode.

And in the second game of the fourth installment, when Nadal once again conceded with a break, there was a minute when it seemed that a turning point was brewing. But here the first pitch of Tiafoe worked qualitatively, which, in fact, did not always take place. The award for this somewhat amusing son of expatriates from Sierra Leone, who has already seen a lot in his life, was the most memorable victory in all the years of playing tennis. And the US Open was the first Grand Slam tournament since 2003 where none of the three most prominent tennis players listed above made it to the quarterfinals.

The Spanish veteran is now returning home, where he will not only heal old injuries, due to which, according to coach Carlos Moya, he had to change his serving technique this summer, but also expect replenishment in his own family. Well, Tiafoe will fight for reaching the semi-finals with Andrey Rublev, and it’s hard to name a clear favorite in this match, since last year at the US Open the Russian lost in five sets in the third round, and in the spring in Indian Wells he quite confidently took revenge. The strengths of the opponents are approximately equal, and much will depend on the psychological component. It is still unclear whether Tiafoe still has the moral strength to maintain the same level two days after the real triumph. It is also unclear whether, in turn, Rublev will be able to cope with the pressure of the stands, who will cheer furiously against him.

Evgeny Fedyakov