2015 US Open - Rafael Nadal(Spain)loses to Fabio Fognini(Italy)in the 3rd Round Friday Sep 04,2015

 


 

Rafael Nadal made his earliest US Open exit in a decade Friday Sep 04,2015, suffering his first Grand Slam defeat after leading by two sets

The defeat ended eighth-seeded RAfael Nadal's streak of 10 years in a row with at least one grand slam singles title


Rafael Nadal had been 151-0 in Slam matches when leading by two sets.
But Fognini imposed seven consecutive service breaks upon Nadal in the fourth and fifth sets, smacking 70 winners past the iconic star in a fantastic effort.
The 8th seed Rafael Nadal fell victim to 32nd-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium

Rafael Nadal had not lost so early on the New York hardcourts since a third-round ouster in 2005 by American James Blake

Rafael Nadal lost to Fabio Fognini on clay at Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona earlier this year, but had bounced back with a triumph in July's Hamburg final.

It was Fabio Fognini's first win in 18 tries on hardcourt against a top-10 rival and made him the first Italian in the US Open last 16 since Davide Sanguinetti in 2005

Fabio Fognini, 32, booked a last-16 date with 18th-seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who eliminated Canadian 10th seed Milos Raonic 6-2, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3

Note

Rafael Nadal's Grand Slam Titles -14

• Australian Open -2009 - 1 Title
• French Open -2005 to 2014(except 2009) - 9 Titles 
• Wimbledon - 2008,2010 - 2 Titles
• US Open - 2010,2013 - 2 Titles

For Rafael Nadal the 2015 Grand Slam Year is one to be forgotten becasue -

• lost to Tomas Berdych in the QF in the 2015 Australian Open
• lost to Novak Djokovic in the QF in the 2015 French Open
• lost to Dustin Brown in the 3rd round in the 2015 Wimbledon
• lost to Fabio Fognini in the 2nd round in the 2015 US Open