‘I believe I can beat him’ – Frances Tiafoe full of confidence ahead of Rafael Nadal encounter

Rafael Nadal’s fourth round opponent in the US Open, Frances Tiafoe, has sent a warning to the 22-time Grand Slam champion, warning: “I’m definitely going to come after him”.

Tiafoe, the 22nd seed, is the first American man to reach the last 16 of the US Open in three consecutive years since Mardy Fish accomplished the feat from 2010-12.

The 24-year-old doesn’t want to stop there, though.

“Now I believe I can beat him – I’m definitely going to come after him,” said Tiafoe, who has lost his previous two encounters against the 36-year-old.

“[I need to] match his intensity from the first point to the last. You can’t really have any dips – he takes advantage of it.”

Tiafoe will take confidence from his hard-fought victory over Schwartzman, a match where he had to show resilience after being broken twice in the first set.

“I thought it was a hell of a match,” he said.

“Especially that first set – one of the craziest sets I’ve played in my career. It had everything in it. Down two breaks, serving again at 6-5, me down 6-3 in the breaker. Unbelievable how I even won the set.”

Meanwhile, Nadal was full of praise for his upcoming opponent after cruising past Gaquet on Saturday – his 30th victory at night on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“All these victories help to be a little bit more confident,” said Nadal.

“It’s a moment to increase, to making a step forward. Second week against a great player like Frances, I need to be ready to play and to raise my level.

“I hope to be able to make that happen. I know [it] is the right moment to make an improvement if I want to keep having chances to keep going on the tournament.”