DHAKA: Rafael Nadal lost a two-set lead and eventually the match to Fabio Fognini, a fitting end to the Spaniard's already poor Grand Slam season.

Fabio Fognini stood at the baseline and looked up. It was nearly 1:30am on a relatively cool night in New York. The stadium around him was in shock.

He, too, couldn't seem to believe what he had just done. The 28-year-old Italian knocked fan-favorite Rafael Nadal out of the U.S. Open, winning a five-setter in which Nadal had taken the first two sets.

Midway through the third set, it looked like Nadal would walk away with the easy win. Instead, the two-time champion is going home on the wrong side of 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, upset by the No. 32 seed.

Nadal lost in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and the Australian Open this year. He lost in the second round at Wimbledon. He had not dropped a set coming into this third-round match. This will be the first year since 2004 that he did not win a single Grand Slam.

"For me was amazing  win 10 years in a row... You can imagine how difficult is make that happen," he said after the match. "accept that was not my year and keep fighting till the end of the season to finish in a positive way for me."

Earlier on Ashe, Novak Djokovic advanced in straight sets. Djokovic is having more fun than anyone here. He danced with a fan at the end of his second-round win. After winning Friday, he had a playful back and forth with the Arthur Ashe Stadium DJ. He danced again, briefly. He stayed on court signing autographs for every single person holding a towel or ball or photo.

Source: ESPN, Yahoo Sports‎

BDST: 1335 HRS, SEP 05, 2015
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