Rafael Nadal returned to New York after a three-year hiatus with some lofty goals in mind. The Spaniard was seeking a record-tying fifth US Open singles title, a record-extending 23rd Grand Slam singles title and, who knows, maybe even a return to No. 1 for the first time since January 2020.
Despite a pair of injury setbacks—a rib stress fracture in Indian Wells, an abdominal tear at Wimbledon—the 36-year-old was still in the hunt for three of the four majors, a perfect 19-0 at the big-stage events, his lone blemish his semifinal pullout at the All-England Club.
But Nadal, the US Open champion in 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019, was never really able to summon his best form in Flushing Meadows. He dropped the opening set of his first-round matchup with inexperienced wildcard Rinky Hijikata of Australia; and got off to a sluggish start in the second round against Italy’s Fabio Fognini, an opening set he called among the very worst of his career.
Watch Nadal's Round of 16 press conference:
He put up a valiant fight against No. 22 seed Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. in the Round of 16 on Labor Day, but often struggled to get the most out of his serve, finishing with nine double faults in the 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 defeat, falling short of the quarterfinals for the first time since 2016.
“I was not able to hold a high level of tennis for a long time,” said Nadal, who still has a shot at No. 1. “I was not quick enough in my movement. He was able to take the ball too many times very early, so I was not 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 am not in that moment anymore.”
"My shots need to be better," he continued. "In some ways, my understanding of the game and the quality of my shots were not good enough, were poor."
Did his abdominal tear, which kept him off the court for more than six weeks post-Wimbledon, play into his performance at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center?
"Of course, this was not the ideal preparation for me," he said. "But in other cases, it has gone the right way, even without the perfect preparation. We can't find excuses. We need to be enough of a critic [of] myself. That's the only way to improve, that's the only way that I understand that you are able to find solutions.
"I had been practicing well the week before, honestly. But then, when the competition started, my level went down. That’s the truth. For some reason, I don't know, mental issues in terms of a lot of things happened the last couple of months. But it doesn't matter. In the end, the only thing that happened is we went to the fourth round of the US Open and I faced a player that was better than me. And that's why I am having a plane ride back home.”
Watch highlights of Tiafoe's Round 4 win:
