‘I believe I can beat him’ – Frances Tiafoe full of confidence ahead of Rafael Nadal encounter

ByEurosport

Updated 04/09/2022 at 13:05 GMT

American Frances Tiafoe is in a confident mood ahead of his fourth-round match with Rafael Nadal at the US Open. The 24-year-old has lost to the 22-time Grand Slam champion twice in his career, but he believes that he can finally get the better of his illustrious opponent this time around. "Now I believe I can beat him - I’m definitely going to come after him," said Tiafoe.

Rafael Nadal’s fourth-round opponent in the US Open, Frances Tiafoe, has sent a warning to the 22-time Grand Slam champion, warning: “I’m definitely going to come after him”.

The American set up the showdown with Nadal after seeing off Argentine Diego Schwartzman 7-6 (7) 6-4 6-4, while Nadal thrashed Richard Gasquet 6-0 6-1 7-5.

Tiafoe, the 22nd seed, is the first American man to reach the last 16 of the US Open in three consecutive years since Mardy Fish accomplished the feat from 2010-12.

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The 24-year-old doesn’t want to stop there, though.

“Now I believe I can beat him - I’m definitely going to come after him,” said Tiafoe, who has lost his previous two encounters against the 36-year-old.

“[I need to] match his intensity from the first point to the last. You can’t really have any dips - he takes advantage of it.”

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Tiafoe will take confidence from his hard-fought victory over Schwartzman, a match where he had to show resilience after being broken twice in the first set.

“I thought it was a hell of a match,” he said.

“Especially that first set - one of the craziest sets I've played in my career. It had everything in it. Down two breaks, serving again at 6-5, me down 6-3 in the breaker. Unbelievable how I even won the set.”

Meanwhile, Nadal was full of praise for his upcoming opponent after cruising past Gaquet on Saturday - his 30th victory at night on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Rafael Nadal

Image credit: Getty Images

“All these victories help to be a little bit more confident,” said Nadal.

“It's a moment to increase, to make a step forward. Second week against a great player like Frances, I need to be ready to play and to raise my level.

“I hope to be able to make that happen. I know [it] is the right moment to make an improvement if I want to keep having chances to keep going on the tournament.”

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