If the fourth seed defeats Fritz on Sunday, he will tie Novak Djokovic for the most ATP Masters 1000 titles in history with 37. Nadal is off to a personal-best 20-0 start to the season with titles at a Melbourne ATP 250, the Australian Open and Acapulco. 'It means a lot to me, and I'll just keep going.' 'I am super happy to be in the final,' Nadal said in his on-court interview. The legendary lefty will face American Taylor Fritz for the trophy. The three-time BNP Paribas Open champion reached his fifth final in the California desert with a thrilling 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over his fellow Spaniard after a gruelling three hours and 12 minutes in heavy winds. Open for the first time in his career, and he will square off against ninth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev, who notched a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the first match of the day on Tuesday.Carlos Alcaraz showed why he is the future on Saturday at Indian Wells, but Rafael Nadal proved he is still very much the present. Tiafoe is now into the quarterfinals at the U.S. I am able to do me and do it my way and enjoy the game I love.” I am just putting my head down and I am happy with where I am in life in general. These past couple of years, when the attention hasn’t been on me, I have been able to develop. “When I first came on the scene, I felt like a lot of people had a lot of expectations on me on how I would do,” Tiafoe reflected. He made sure he would not have to serve out the match, and broke Nadal to wrap up the biggest victory of his young career. I came out not giving Rafa all the respect, and I came out to win a tennis match in front of you guys.”Īfter holding for 5-3 in that fourth set, a ripping cross-court forehand winner set up Tiafoe with a couple of match points. I was lucky enough to get out of that game. “I just needed to get out of the game and then pray to god that I don’t have to serve for it. “At 4-3, when I went up 40-0, my legs were like cement,” he told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd afterwards. In all, Tiafoe had 49 winners and sustained his level for the entirety of the 3 hour and 34 minute clash. Playing loose and without fear, Tiafoe used his whipping forehand to match Nadal from the baseline, and firing 18 aces, some of which came at crucial times in a back-and-forth fourth set, to pull off the 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory. I’m definitely going to come after him.”Īnd that is indeed what he did. “I’m definitely a different player from 2019, playing much better,” Tiafoe said prior to the match on Monday. American Frances Tiafoe took the court on Monday afternoon with one thought on his mind: win the tennis match.Ī seemingly fairly simple approach for a professional player, but with 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal standing on the other side of the net, this was no easy task.

Nadal score today