Frenchman Lucas Pouille has beaten Rafael Nadal in five sets to reach the US Open quarter-finals.
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Top-seed Novak Djokovic is also into the quarter-finals. The 22-year-old Frenchman benefited from a netted Nadal forehand before finally converting his fourth match point at 7-6 with a down-the-line forehand victor.
Pouille told media wing that ” It’s my first match on the centre court, against Rafa.
“The problem is arriving at six-all in the fifth, I should be winning before”, said Nadal, who opened the fifth set with a break but couldn’t hold onto it, dropping his own serve in the eighth to make it 4-4 and set the stage for the tiebreaker.
World number one and defending champion Djokovic, who takes on Briton Kyle Edmund, has played just one full match due to injuries by his second and third-round opponents. At 6-6, I was not the same.
“I don’t know. This is the question you’re going to ask me now?” a smiling Vinci said good-naturedly.
“It’s just never over until the last point”. Djokovic put the set back on serve with a break for 3-3, and broke Edmund at love to close out the match.
However, Pouille said it was too early to say whether the breakthrough victory would change his career.
For Nadal, this is another crushing blow given the world number five arrived in NY buoyed after an impressive run at the Olympics.
Sevastova became the first Latvian woman in 22 years to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal when she beat British 13th seed Johanna Konta 6-4, 7-5. “But now I have one more match to play again, so we’ll see after the tournament”.
“Losing in the fourth round after having a big chance to play a great event here, feeling myself ready for it, for sure I am not very satisfied, no?” I’m happy where I am now, so I going to prepare great for my match’. Physical, for sure, no.
I fought until the end, Nadal said. Of course it was not a physical thing. “The opponent wants to win the same, like you”.
Rafael Nadal is heading home early after a shocking fourth-round upset loss.. He feels the pressure, as well.
The 30-year-old has proved that he’s a warrior.
The fourth seeded Spaniard came to the court having dropped only 20 games and stood ideal on sets before facing Pouille, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist. But the hard-serving Pouille, who made the quarters at Wimbledon, pushed Nadal every step of the way.
“During the practice it was 6-1 6-3 for him”. He was, however, confident he was working his way back to fitness: “My wrist is improving a lot”. If my return was not flawless, then he was going with the forehand and nearly did only winners. “I think that was the good choice”. Djokovic was given a walkover in the second round and only had to play six games in the third before Mikhail Youzhny retired, but the world number one showed he is better for the extra rest in a comfortable victory.
He didn’t even warm up on the court, because it would have required coming to the grounds hours before his match.
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‘I have two days to recover to play my first semi here.
