2015 US Open: Fabio Fognini upsets No. 8 Rafael Nadal in 5 sets
Rafael Nadal led two sets to none, but Fabio Fognini came back to win the final three sets and knock Nadal out of the US Open.
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Rafael Nadal took the first two sets against No. 32 Fabio Fognini on Friday night, and it seemed like the No. 8 seed would cruise through to Round 4. After all, Nadal was 151-0 in grand slam matches when taking the first two sets.
Instead, Fognini became the first to put a one in the loss column. A tremendous rally in the final three games gave Fognini the match, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
The final set featured seven consecutive breaks of serve by the two players until Fognini finally got a hold in his final service game of the night to win the match.
The difference in the match was Fognini's persistence in being the aggressor. He came to net 54 times, winning 39 of those points, and hit an incredible 70 winners in the match. He had 57 unforced errors, but his gameplan ended up being the one that worked.
On the other side, Nadal came to net just 22 times, winning 19 of those points, and hit just 30 winners to 18 unforced errors on the match. Nadal was solid, but needed to come up with more shots in the final three sets and couldn't do so against the aggressive Fognini.
For Nadal, this marks the first time since 2004 that he went an entire calendar year without winning at least one grand slam tournament. He did not get past the quarterfinal round in any of the four majors this year.
For Fognini, it's a massive win and earns him his third ever trip to the fourth round in a grand slam, the first since the 2014 Australian Open. He will face No. 18 Feliciano Lopez.
