American Frances Tiafoe upsets Rafael Nadal in 4th round of US Open
American Frances Tiafoe and Rafael Nadal played a back and forth match on Friday, June 19, 2017 as Nadal advanced to the fourth round and Tiafoe was eliminated by American Madison Keys in straight sets. “I need to get my head on straight;” said Federer. “It took a while but I started to play a little better and that’s what I needed to do against Nadal.”
Top-seeded Federer was on a roll against the young Spaniard, who now has a 12-11 record against the Swiss. Federer’s momentum increased with his three-set victory over Marin Cilic in the Australian Open, a loss he avenged in the finals of the US Open and a victory over Novak Djokovic at the last Grand Slam tournament.
Despite the victory over Djokovic at the US Open final, Federer and his family were not part of the parade in Boston on behalf of the US Open’s champions this past Monday. His daughter Beatriz and son Fedor were, however, there, along with their family.
“I don’t know if I would have been doing this if Beatriz and Fedor weren’t there,” Federer said.
Federer will have a chance to play on the same court with his children in the semifinal when he faces David Goffin.
The 21 year-old American has been in good form at the start of his pro career after bouncing of Andy Murray and Juan Martín del Potro. He beat the Swiss in straight sets 3-6, 6-4, 12-10 last year in the quarterfinal of the US Open. He lost to Novak in the semifinals earlier this year and this year. He has defeated John Isner and David Goffin.
Gofin beat Radek Stepanek, his countryman, in the quarterfinal. So Federer’s best hope of reaching the last four could be to avoid Goffin and prevail over Stepanek in a sudden-death, tie-break match. Both of these players are also American, so Federer would have
