The defeat ended 14-time Slam victor Nadal’s 10-year run in which he has won at least one major title.
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It means Nadal has only managed to reach two quarter-finals at grand slams this year and ends the season without a major title for the first time since 2004. “That’s the real thing”.
He tried to look on the bright side as he spoke to the media at about 2:30 a.m., saying that he was pleased that his mind allowed him to “fight until the end, something that I was missing for a while”.
Nadal refused to elaborate on areas he needed to improve.
“I want to think that Rafa can win the US Open, but the odds are small”. I don’t think that’s a good thing.
Rafael Nadal, of Spain, returns a shot to Fabio Fognini, of Italy, during the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Friday, September 4, 2015. He started whacking flat-footed winners from all over the court, and Nadal began to shrink back off the baseline, like the young clay-court player he once was.
“When I am losing, I am losing because the opponents beat me, not because I lose the match, as I did a lot of times at the beginning of the season”. That’s an improvement for me, so I have a base now. “I know what I have to do and I going to work”.
With some incredible power, Fognini broke again to lead 5-4 and serve for the match and he made no mistake, with Nadal sending a backhand well wide on match point. Fognini imposed seven consecutive service breaks upon Nadal in the fourth and fifth sets, smacking 70 winners past the iconic star in a fantastic effort. The Spaniard had a hard path to the last 16, including a five setter against Pablo Carreno Busta in the second round and a trail of two sets to one down in the third against David Goffin before the Belgian retired. He beat countryman Benoit Paire 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour, 42 minutes Sunday to set up a quarterfinal meeting with defending champ Marin Cilic.
Fognini is the 28-year-old Italian veteran who, in 2012, was the last Grand Slam tournament victim of retiring former Open champ Andy Roddick.
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