Frances Tiafoe did the unthinkable in the US Open 2022. The 24-year-old performed brilliantly to knock out Rafael Nadal. Playing against a heavyweight opponent, Tiafoe was confident from the get go. Although he had a poor record against the Spaniard, he backed himself to register his first win against the 22-time Grand Slam champion, owing to his impressive form of late.

Tiafoe addressed the media after his stunning victory, where he dedicated his victory to his parents.

Tiafoe speaks about the struggle of his parents

As the match ended, the 24-year-old was quick to thank his parents, who were present at the Arthur Ashe stadium. Speaking about the importance of the big victory, Tiafoe opened up about his parents’ early struggle.

“I’m a son of immigrants. Both parents grew up in Sierra Leone, born and raised in Sierra Leone. Came to the States early ’90s, late ’80s, around there. Whatever. They met here, had me and my twin brother. My dad, being a maintenance worker at a club, help building a club ’99. My mom being a nurse, working two jobs, working overtime through the nights,” he said.

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Speaking about the importance of his victory against Nadal in front of his parents, Tiafoe said, “To see them experience me beat Rafa Nadal, they’ve seen me have big wins, but to beat those Mount Rushmore guys, for them, I can’t imagine what was going through their heads. Yeah, I mean, they’re going to remember today for the rest of their lives.”

Grand Slam unbeaten run ends for Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal was on a 22-match unbeaten streak in the Grand Slam tournaments this year. The 36-year-old claimed the Australian Open at the start of the year. Later, he battled a foot injury to lift his 14th Roland Garros title. Further, the Spaniard was in great form at the Wimbledon Championships as well.

He made it to the quarterfinal of the tournament. However, he suffered an abdominal injury in his quarterfinal victory against Taylor Fritz and pulled out of the tournament.

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He continued the winning streak at the US Open and won his first three matches convincingly. However, he could not go past the spirited American. With this, the US Open 2022 will become the first tournament that will be claimed by a player outside the big three, this season.

With this loss, Nadal’s hopes of returning to the top of the world rankings have received a major blow. The Spaniard was last ranked at the pinnacle of the ATP rankings in 2020. Now that Nadal is out of the tournament, it will be interesting to see who wins the tournament.