Dark horse Frances Tiafoe thrust into limelight after Rafael Nadal win, Iga Swiatek on song – US Open diary

Big Foe lights up the big stage

Early in the tournament, Frances Tiafoe declared there is a “changing of the guard” taking place in men’s tennis, acknowledging that “everyone is beatable, even the top guys”.

The 24-year-old American believes the sport can benefit from the arrival of new faces at the top but added that he still wasn’t fully there yet when it comes to upsetting the tennis order, and that he was happy to be flying under the radar.

“I’m still that dark horse who can do something special,” he said last week after beating Marcos Giron in the opening round.

“I kind of like it that I’m not like in the forefront of that because, you know, let those guys handle the pressure. I’m kind of Court 17, get some cheeky wins.”

“Now that’s over, man. I was thinking about that. Now that’s over. There’s no dark horse anymore,” he said with a grin on Monday.

“It’s all good. It helped me play well. But even now, I know what I can do, I know what I’m capable of doing these next couple matches if that happens.

“I still feel no pressure. I still feel like I’m not supposed to do anything. I’m just here to play great tennis and enjoy it. I’m having fun out there, as you can see.”

It wasn’t just Tiafoe who was having fun out there on Monday. The home crowd exploded as he pulled off the upset, including this man, who gave us the ultimate celebration.

Tiafoe later told me this is actually his best friend and that they’ve known each other since he was eight years old.

Emotions took over for Tiafoe after match point as he kept up America’s chances of getting a first men’s singles home champion since Andy Roddick in 2003.

“I was telling my agent, I felt like the world stopped. I couldn’t hear anything for a minute. Even shaking his hand, I don’t even know what I said to him. It was such a blur,” said Tiafoe.

“I was already tearing. I could barely see him and my team. Everyone was up. It was just wild. My heart is going a thousand miles an hour. I was so excited. I was like, Let me sit down. I’ve never felt something like that in my life, honestly.”

Iga’s playlist

World No.1 Iga Swiatek is a creature of habit and we’re not just talking about her knack for winning matches.

So what does Swiatek’s pre-match playlist look like? It goes like this:

• AC/DC – Thunderstruck
• Pearl Jam – Even Flow
• Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc
• Pearl Jam – Porch
• Led Zeppelin – Rock & Roll.

“I’m pretty scared to change it. I’m listening to that since a year ago basically and I’m pretty bored but it’s working so I’m going to stick to that,” she confessed, after reaching her third Grand Slam quarter-final of the year.

We wouldn’t dare changing it either, Iga!

Speaking of habits, Nadal made sure he didn’t leave his post-loss press conference at the US Open without going to the back of the room to personally hug the stenographers goodbye.

In his first and last press conferences at every tournament, Nadal personally greets the tireless people who transcribe every English word spoken in press during that event.

Monday was no different obviously.

Tweet of the day

Tiafoe understandably freaked out when he saw the shout-out from LeBron James on Twitter.

“Man, I was losing it in the locker room. Bro, I was going crazy,” laughed Tiafoe. “That’s my guy. So to see him post that, I was like, ‘Do I retweet it as soon as he sent it?’ I was like, ‘You know what, I’m going to be cool and act like I didn’t see it and then retweet it three hours later’.

“Obviously he knows I’m a big fan of his. Got a text from Rich Paul as well. That’s super cool. The fact they’re watching right now. It’s a perfect time. US Open is always a perfect time because there’s no real sports really going on. People can focus on tennis, which is great.”

Berrettini’s silver lining

Tennis can often be a very insular environment.

Players are on the road almost 11 months a year, going through the exact same routines in different countries around the world so they can perform to the best of their abilities.

They often eat in the same places, spend the majority of their down time in their hotel rooms, and rarely get a chance to explore the cities they are in, preserving their energy for their matches.

So when Matteo Berrettini had to miss three months of action this year to recover from right hand surgery, the Italian capitalised on his involuntary break and got to experience new things away from the tennis court.

“There was a moment where I was also feeling tired a little bit in general; then the thing with my hand, I had to stop,” Berrettini told reporters in New York.

“I was like, OK, it’s going to be tough, especially when I pulled out from tournaments like Monte-Carlo, Rome, Madrid, Paris. It was tough. But then it was like, OK, I’m going to use this time to do something that I would never be able to do if I was healthy. I spent more time with my friends, with my family. I went to some events I never been.

“It was really nice. I got in contact with new people, new personalities, and kind of in a way helped me to realise how much I love tennis, how much I was missing tennis, but at the same time there is a life when you’re not playing tennis.

“It helped me that way. I think that’s one of the reasons why I came back and I won so many matches in a row.”

“It’s really healthy for your mind.”

Indeed, Berrettini returned from his injury lay-off and won 12 matches in a row, including back-to-back titles in Stuttgart and Queens.

“I went to Cannes, the film festival. It was really cool. I saw some actors. I got in contact with them. It was different. Red carpet, you know, I’m not really used to that,” said Berrettini, who became one of the new faces of Boss this year, turning up in campaigns that were displayed the world over, from New York’s Times Square to Dubai.

“It was really cool. My brother was there, as well. It’s something that obviously you don’t want to do because you want to play tennis. But it was still a nice time. It was a nice occasion to see what the world can give you when you’re doing other stuff.”

The 26-year-old from Rome says he is slowly learning to find the balance between dedicating himself to tennis, and enjoying his life on tour.

“Obviously we’re all evolving in a way. I’m not the same guy that came here for the first time. I’m learning what I like to do. Before I was more a kid, it was tennis, tennis, tennis. I think it helps you to have an idea of what is outside. I think it’s really healthy for your mind, as well,” Berrettini explained.

“Sometimes you can burn out. You can be too focused, or you want something too much, then you don’t get it, what is left? Nothing. It’s important to enjoy your family, enjoy your friends, do something different. I think for me at least it’s something I should take care about because, like all the sports, it can be tough mentally.

“Obviously we are really lucky to be here, we’re playing for a lot of money, in front of like thousands and thousands of people. But sometimes you have to take care of yourself, and that’s what I do.”

Quotes of the day

“This is the easiest way to be grateful for the people that they came to support players, tennis, and this is the easiest way to be grateful. And of course I’m not getting bored because it’s part of the job. It’s like recovery or play match, warm-up, or to do press conference now is part of the sport. I think you have to be grateful for the things you have in your job, and that’s it.”

— Rublev on why he always dedicates so much time to sign autographs and take pictures with his fans.

“It’s normal that 15 minutes after a loss in the final Slam of the season to feel like everything is dark, everything seems difficult to have the positive energy to look ahead. But days will pass and I’ll keep going as I’ve done my whole career and I’m confident I have the interior strength to do it again.”

— Nadal gives an honest assessment of his feelings following his four-set last-16 defeat to Tiafoe.

“Obviously the GOAT, Serena Williams. Sorry, Chrissie.”

— Tiafoe had this light-hearted moment on the ESPN set with the legendary Chris Evert when she asked him about Williams’ influence on him, and the Serena GOAT hoodie he was wearing for the interview.

Stats of the day

1 – Swiatek is the first Polish woman in history to reach the US Open quarter-finals.

3 – Rublev has reached the third US Open quarter-final of his career from seven main draw appearances.

3 – In defeating world No.3 Nadal, Tiafoe recorded the biggest win by an American man at the US Open since James Blake upset then-No. 2 Nadal in the 2005 third round.

4 – Rublev defeated world No. 9 Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to record the fourth top-10 win at the US Open alone. The 24-year-old is 4-2 against top-10 players at the US Open and 0-5 against top-10 players at the other Grand Slams.

19 – Following her 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over Jule Niemeier in the fourth round on Monday, Swiatek has now has won 19 bagel sets in 2022. Since 2000, only Serena Williams has won more sets (25) with a 6-0 scoreline in a single WTA season.

24 – With his win over Nadal, 24-year-old Tiafoe has become the youngest American man to reach the US Open quarter-finals since a 24-year-old Andy Roddick achieved that feat in 2006.

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