Rafael Nadal kept making a stand, kept coming back, kept showing he would not depart quietly from this US Open. Facing a much younger, much-less-accomplished opponent, Nadal twice erased a set deficit. Then he staved off a trio of match points.
And then, more than 4 hours into the toughest test he's put his left wrist through since returning from injury, Nadal faltered. He missed a short forehand, pushing it into the net. Nadal knew what he'd done and covered his eyes with both hands. One point later, the match was over.
Nadal was upset in the US Open's fourth round by 24th-seeded lucas Pouille of France 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6) on Sunday, prolonging the 14-time Grand Slam title winner's quarterfinal drought at major tournaments.
"There were things I could do better. Had the right attitude. I (fought) right up to the last ball," said the No 4-seeded Nadal, a two-time champion at Flushing Meadows. "But I need something else. I need something more that was not there today."
He breezed through his opening three matches at the hard-court tournament, dropping only 20 games. But Pouille, a 22-year-old with flashy strokes, presented a much greater challenge in the fourth round, pushing Nadal to the limit through entertaining, tense — and intense — exchanges.
Since losing in last year's French Open quarterfinals, Nadal has failed to make it beyond the fourth round at a major. And after winning at least one Grand Slam title each year for a decade, he's now gone two full seasons without one.
In 2016, he lost in the first round of the Australian Open. Then he pulled out of the French Open before his third-round match because of a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist, an injury that forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon altogether and miss about 2 1/2 months in all.
After finally pulling even with Pouille by capturing the fourth set, Nadal broke to open the fifth, then went ahead 4-2. But Pouille broke to 4-all.
Soon enough, they were in the tiebreaker, with Pouille holding his first three match points at 6-3.
Nadal wouldn't concede yet, though, and one forehand winner by him plus two tight forehands by Pouille evened the score. Anyone's match to win.
Pouille never had been to a Grand Slam quarterfinal until Wimbledon a couple of months ago, but it was Nadal who blinked at 6-6. Pouille played conservatively, hitting short shots and making sure they landed in. On one such seemingly easy ball to exploit, Nadal moved forward and whipped that big forehand of his, only to see his reply smack the net.
Pouille's take: "I couldn't believe he would miss it. But he's like every player. He feels the pressure, as well. Even if he's one of the best, he feels the pressure."
That error made it 7-6 in the tiebreaker, Pouille's fourth match point, and he would not let this one slip away. On a 16-stroke exchange, Pouille delivered a gutsy forehand winner to a corner.
Pouille was joined in the quarterfinals by a pair of countrymen, No 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and No 10 Gael Monfils, giving France three men's quarterfinalists at the American Grand Slam tournament for the first time in 89 years. Pouille will face Monfils, a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 winner over 2006 Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis.