Frances Tiafoe has ended Rafael Nadal’s hopes for a 23rd Grand Slam title after a 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3 victory.
The American claimed a hard-fought victory in four sets in what was an emotional moment for him.
Nadal couldn’t consistently reach his world class level as he exited the tournament.
Tiafoe will face Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals while a new world number one is guaranteed in the form of Carlos Alcaraz or Casper Ruud.
Tiafoe took advantage of Nadal’s early physical problems as he went to work on forcing the errors from the Spaniard.
However the 22-time Grand Slam champion responded well and holding his serve comfortably as he looked for the crucial break early on.
The American remained unfazed by Nadal’s ability to turn defence into the attack as he continued to produce consistently good tennis throughout the opening set.
In the end it was Tiafoe who grabbed the crucial break in the set with some good returning and power from the back of the court.
The second seed upped the intensity towards the end of the set as he tested Tiafoe’s tennis under pressure.
However the world number 26 stood up to the task and would go onto convert his third set point to take the opening set 6-4 to the delight of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Nadal was struggling with his wrists and took an eight minute break which involved a medical time-out.
The break seemed to rejuvenate Nadal as he became more efficient and effective on serve as he produced enough quality to force the errors from Tiafoe.
A good response was produced by Tiafoe on serve as he continued to dictate the tempo of the rallies through his first serve.
The American had a good chance to break at the end of the set but in the end, it was Nadal who claimed the second set with some high-quality returning mixed with a lack of concentration from Tiafoe.
There was a common pattern occurring in the match with both players given very little opportunities to their opponent.
This match would have to be earned by one of the opponents and Tiafoe would do exactly that in the third set as he displayed a mix of rally tolerance and raw power.
A delightful backhand down the line secured the break in the seventh game as he ran towards the change of ends with a break advantage.
There was no doubting that Nadal was suffering, but Tiafoe took full advantage as he closed out a two set to one lead.
Doubts continued to rise over Nadal’s ability to be effective and produce the comeback of all comebacks as he physically was limited.
Those doubts were eased at the beginning of the fourth set as the Arthur Ashe roof was closing, Tiafoe was distracted and Nadal took advantage to take a 3-1 lead.
However Tiafoe remained unfazed and continued to crack on with the job at hand as his resolute aggression paid off immediately, breaking Nadal straight away.
Nadal lacked power and authority on his returns with the American believing that this could be his moment.
Tiafoe served well under pressure and continued to earn the breaks required to put Nadal under pressure.
An ace sealed a fourth game in a row as Tiafoe had now taken a 5-3 lead in the fourth set.
Despite Nadal’s best efforts to try and achieve history, it wasn’t meant to be and another break sealed the biggest win of Tiafoe’s young career.
An emotional Tiafoe could barely believe what happened as he booked a place in the quarter-finals where he will face Andrey Rublev.
As for Nadal, the 23rd Grand Slam title will have to wait and with it the world number one spot, which will go to Carlos Alcaraz or Casper Ruud after the US Open.
