"I wasn't going to leave without winning" - Determined Tiafoe reflects on victory over Rublev

On a day filled with upsets, Frances Tiafoe pulled off one of the biggest wins of his career by stunning fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev to advance to the round of 16 at the 2021 US Open.

The World No.50 prevailed in a five-set late night thriller, pulling off a 4-6 6-3 7-6(6) 4-6 6-1 victory. Galvanized by the home crowd, the American slugged it out with Rublev in a match that lasted just under four hours and ended at 2:15am local time.

"You guys are the reason I got it done tonight. You guys stuck with me all the way through," Tiafoe said in his on-court interview. "I love these matches... these are the matches I train for. I came out here thinking 'I want to beat him'. Let's keep going."

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With Rublev claiming the fourth set and momentum seemingly on his side, Tiafoe dug into his reserves of energy in the fifth. The American raced to a 5-0 lead in the final set, before eventually serving out the match to rapturous applause from the crowd.

"I've lost a lot of five-setters," admitted Tiafoe. "I was just amped up... I wasn't going to leave this court without winning tonight."

Up next for Tiafoe is 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who survived Roberto Bautista-Agut in another five-set epic on Friday night.

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