After Frances Tiafoe's Stunning Win, Who is Favored to Win Men's U.S. Open?
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Overcome with emotion, Frances Tiafoe went numb. Moments after pulling off one of the biggest grand slam wins in recent American tennis history, tears were flowing as Tiafoe was overcome with emotion.
“I felt like the world stopped,” he said after defeating Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of the U.S. Open. “I couldn't hear anything for a minute.”
Tiafoe’s victory (6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3) ended Nadal’s 22-match Grand Slam winning streak and secured his first berth into the U.S. Open quarterfinals.
It was also the first time an American topped Nadal at a Grand Slam since James Blake did it at the U.S. Open in 2005. Blake was courtside commentating on the match for ESPN and did the post-match interview with Tiafoe as well. All time, Nadal is 31-2 against Americans in major tournaments.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Tiafoe said. “It’s something to tell the kids, the grandkids, ‘Yeah, I beat Rafa.’ ”
Tiafoe, 24, is the youngest American man to advance to the U.S. Open quarterfinals since Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer in the 2006 Final.
Tiafoe will face Andrey Rublev in the quarters. FanDuel Sportsbook currently has the matchup as a pick ‘em with both Tiafoe and Rublev at -110 to win the match.
In the futures market, Tiafoe currently has the second-longest odds to win the tournament at +1600. Only Karen Khachanov is a bigger longshot at FanDuel at +2800.
Nick Kyrgios Favored to Win U.S. Open
A refocused Nick Kyrgios is making another deep tournament run. In July, Kyrgios made his first Grand Slam semifinal and then Grand Slam final at the All England Club before falling to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon finale. Now, he’s doing it again.
Kyrgios topped No. 1 Daniil Medvedev (7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2) for one of the most impressive victories of his career to send him into the quarterfinals. It’s the furthest Kyrgios has gone in the U.S. Open after failing to make it past the third round until now.
“I’m just glad I’m finally able to show New York my talent,” Kyrgios said during his post-match interview. “I haven’t had too many great trips here.”
Considered to have one of the best serves in tennis, Kyrgios fired 21 aces and recorded 64 winners, including numerous highlight-reel-worthy returns and powerful forehands that not even the rangy Medvedev could not get to.
“It was a high-level match,” Medvedev said. “I’ve played Novak, Rafa, they all play amazing, and today, Nick played at their level, in my opinion. He has a little bit of a different game because he’s not a grinder in a way, but at the same time, he can rally. He’s tough to play. He has an amazing serve … If he plays like this until the end of the tournament, he has a chance to win it.”
Kyrgios’ win was just the latest in what has been a bounce-back 2022 season for him. He captured a doubles championship at the Australian Open, made it to the finals at Wimbledon, won a singles and doubles title at the Citi Open and has a 35-9 record this year. Across 2020 and 2021, he went just 13-11.
“I looked at the people closest to me and how much I was letting them down, and I didn't want to do that anymore,” Kyrgios said of his changed mindset. "I just tried to just look at my career. I was like, I feel like I've got so much left to give to the sport. That's it. I just trained hard. I just put my head down. Look, let's get in shape, better shape, first of all. Let's see, like, how it goes.”
Kyrgios is now favored to win the U.S. Open at +160. He is a -400 favorite for his quarterfinal matchup against Khachanov (+315).
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