‘I can beat him. I’m going to come after him’: Nadal’s next opponent fires massive US Open warning ahead of last 16 tie

He dropped a set each in each of his first two matches at the US Open 2022, but Rafael Nadal brushed aside talks around his lack of match practice with a dominating win against his old friend Richard Gasquet in the third-round match on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday as he beat the Frenchman in straight sets. With the win, Nadal improved his head-to-head tie against Gasquet to a record 18-0, as he reached the last 16 for the 12th time in his career. And ahead of his match, his next opponent, has fired a massive warning to the Spaniard.

Frances Tiafoe will be Nadal’s next opponent at the US Open, who beat Diego Schwartzman in straight sets on Saturday to reach the round if 16 at the Flushing Meadows for the third consecutive time.

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“Now I believe I can beat him – I’m definitely going to come after him,” said Tiafoe, who lost both his previous two meetings with Nadal. “[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.”

Both their previous meetings were in 2019, one on clay and other on hard court, at Australian Open quarter-final. Nadal won the both the matches in straight sets.

Despite a straight-set win against Schwartzman, Tiafoe had to work hard for the win, after being broken twice in the first set. But he bounced back in style to win it 7-6 6-4 6-4.

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