Frances Tiafoe ended Rafael Nadal’s 22-match winning streak at Grand Slam tournaments by beating the 22-time major champion 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the last 16 at the US Open on Monday.
Courtesy of the win, 22nd seed Tiafo reached the second major quarter-final of his career. The 24 year-old became the youngest man from America to get that far at the Flushing Meadows since Andy Roddick in 2006 and the result was no fluke - Tiafoe served better than Nadal and returned better as well.
No. 2 seed Nadal, who had won both of his previous matches vs Tiafo without dropping a set, said that 'mental issues' were behind his shock defeat.