Tiafoe plays match of life to upset Nadal

NEW YORK: Frances Tiafoe produced one of the biggest upsets at the US Open after stunning 22time grand slam champion Rafa Nadal in the fourth round, while Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz battled past Marin Cilic in a thriller yesterday.

Home hope Tiafoe (24), the 22nd seed, pulled off a 64, 46, 64, 63 victory to hand Nadal his first grand slam loss this year after the Spaniard withdrew from his Wimbledon semifinal with an abdominal injury.

‘‘I don’t even know what to say right now. I’m beyond happy, I’m almost in tears,’’ Tiafoe said.

‘‘I can’t believe it. He is definitely one of the greatest of all time. I played unbelievable tennis today but I really don’t know what happened.’’

After the match, Nadal made no excuses for his performance.

‘‘My opponent was the better player,’’ he said.

Tiafoe will face Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals after the Russian shrugged off a rain delay to breeze past Briton Cameron Norrie 64, 64, 64.

Alcaraz, a quarterfinalist last year, remained on course for another memorable run at Flushing Meadows after squeezing past 2014 champion Cilic, of Croatia, 64, 36, 64, 46, 63 to set up a showdown against Jannik Sinner.

Italian 11th seed Sinner also needed five sets to hold off unseeded Belarusian Ilya Ivashka 61, 57, 62, 46, 63 to reach his third grand slam quarterfinal this season.

The 21yearold has now reached the quarterfinals of all four grand slam tournaments, becoming the youngest man to do so since Novak Djokovic in 200708.

In the women’s draw, sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarusia, bounced back from a slow start and visits from the trainer to beat No 19 seed Danielle Collins 36, 63, 62 and reach the quarterfinals.

Sabalenka continued her mastery at Flushing Meadows over American Collins, beating her for the third time at the US Open.

She will face 22nd seed Karolina Pliskova in the last eight after the Czech enjoyed a 75, 67 (75), 62 win over 26th seed Victoria Azarenka.

Pliskova, a former world No 1, was the 2016 runnerup in New York and at Wimbledon in 2021 and scored a fifth victory in nine matches against the Belarusian.

World No 1 Iga Swiatek took time to get going and fire her way into the last eight.

There, the Pole will meet No.8 seeded American Jessica Pegula, who brushed aside twotime Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, 63, 62 to reach her third major quarterfinal of 2022.

Swiatek beat German Jule Niemeier 26, 64, 60, but is clearly not in the form that brought her 37 straight wins earlier this season. — Reuters/ AP