US Open 2022: Nadal non-committal about the time of his return

Bengaluru, September 6: Rafael Nadal was frustrated by his performance when speaking with the media after his upset loss against Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round of US Open 2022 admitting "he was better than me".

Nadal only allowed two total break point opportunities from the first three sets, but he was unable to save either, leading to Tiafoe taking the first and third frames.

The all-time leader in men's Grand Slams then was uncharacteristically shaky in the fourth, committing four double faults and more unforced errors (nine) than winners (seven).

Nadal had won his two previous encounters with Tiafoe but found the 24-year-old up to the challenge this time around, his firepower proving too much for his illustrious opponent.

After winning both the Australian Open and the French Open, and withdrawing from Wimbledon due to injury, this is Nadal's first loss at a Grand Slam this year.

Tiafoe in the zone

Tiafoe also joins James Blake and Andy Roddick as the only Americans to ever defeat Nadal at a Grand Slam, and it snaps Nadal's streak of 16 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances.

So often Nadal has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and there were moments during his epic that he seemed primed to do so again.

Follows Medvedev

Yet winning the second set and breaking at the start of the fourth both proved false dawns for Nadal, as Tiafoe prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to blow a men's draw that has already lost 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev wide open.

In the post-match press conference, when asked if it was the oppressive humidity, injuries, or even the distraction of the roof closing mid-match, Nadal made it clear his poor performance had a much simpler explanation.

He was better than me

Well, the difference is easy," he said. "I played a bad match and he played a good match. At the end that's it, no? "I wasn't able to hold a high level of tennis for a long time. I wasn't quick enough on my movements. He was able to take the ball too many times very early, so I wasn't able to push him back.

"Tennis is a sport of position a lot of times - if not, you need to be very, very quick and very young. I'm not in that moment anymore. "My shots need to be better. In some way my understanding of the game and the quality of my shots weren't good enough. They were poor, I think I have to say today, because I wasn't able to create that much on him. "Well done for him. He was better than me."

Time to recuperate

With the last Grand Slam of the year now in the books for Nadal, he said he will take some time away to recuperate, but was non-committal about when he may return.

"I need to go back home, I need to fix things, life," he said. "Then I don't know when I'm going to come back. "I'm going to try to be ready mentally. When I feel that I'll be ready to compete again, I'll be there," Nadal concluded.

(With inputs from Agencies)