How many more celebratory soaring scissors kicks for Rafael Nadal?
— -- NEW YORK -- Rafael Nadal, once the fiercest of predators, is now the hunted.
Or perhaps it's haunted.
Since he won his last Grand Slam singles title, more than two years ago at Roland Garros, nine majors have been played to completion. Rafa missed two of them with injuries, reached two quarterfinals, both in 2015, and the rest of his results, well, aren't quite up to his historic standards.
That would include Sunday's 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6) fourth-round defeat to? Lucas Pouille in a riveting fifth-set tiebreaker on Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
Grim and game to the end, Nadal saved three match points before watching a bristling forehand winner down the line end it.
"Is not a question of experience; it's a question of playing a little better than I did," Nadal said in his postmatch news conference. "Need to play with a little bit more calm. I lost an opportunity to have a very good event here. I'm sad for that.
"I need something more, but was not there at the end. I try to find it."
The match ran 4 hours, 7 minutes, the longest of the tournament on Ashe. The final point total underlined the match's extraordinary competitiveness; both men finished with 156 points.
"My first match on the center court against Rafa," Pouille said in his on-court interview. "Yeah, I could not dream better than this."
Now 30, Nadal is into that awkward, graying area of a career when his presence at a major creates more sentimental enthusiasm than realistic hopes for a title. Roger Federer, who hasn't won a major in more than four years, occupies a similar position.
So many tennis purists still ache to see a few more soaring scissors kicks, a flurry of uppercuts, even the practiced series of pre-service tics that might border on obsessive compulsive disorder.
Sunday offered a delicious opportunity to drink in all of the above, as Nadal provided a more-than-generous dose of dash. But in the crucible of the fifth set, there were some crucial misfires, particularly on the forehand side. At 6-all in the tiebreaker, Nadal sent what looked like an easy forehand into the net.
"A big mistake," Nadal acknowledged.
Those errors are indicative of the continuing crisis of confidence Nadal has talked so frankly about in the past. It's troubling that Nadal has lost three straight five-set matches -- and five of seven.?
This is the first time since 2003 that neither Federer nor Nadal is in a US Open quarterfinal, a sign of changing times in men's tennis.
Thus, Nadal's Grand Slam match win count remains at 203, the exact career total of one Pete Sampras, a man with whom he also shares a total of 14 Grand Slam singles titles. Nadal will undoubtedly surpass Sampras in wins, but it's looking less and less likely that he will bring home a 15th major.
The other big headline of the fortnight? Pouille joined fellow Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils in the quarterfinals.
There will be a Frenchman in the semifinals, because Pouille plays Monfils in the quarters. Tsonga meets the winner of No. 1 Novak Djokovic versus Kyle Edmund in the other quarter in the top half of the draw.
It's the first time since 1947 that three Frenchmen have advanced to the elite eight in a major. The last time it happened at the US Open was 1927.
"We were worried about who was coming after those [veteran] Frenchman," said ESPN analyst Patrick Mouratoglou, who is also Serena Williams' coach and French. "Now we have a very strong one coming."
On the ESPN set after the match, John McEnroe, provocateur that he is, asked Pouille if he was the best of the French players.
"For the moment, no, of course," Pouille said, laughing. "There are three players in the top 20 -- I'm not for the moment. They have finals in Grand Slams, semifinals.
"So I need to improve to be better than them."
In retrospect, maybe this wasn't the upset casual tennis fans might think it is.
Pouille, who was playing his third consecutive five-set match, advances to his second straight major quarterfinal. He beat Juan Martin del Potro at Wimbledon, before losing to Tomas Berdych.
"During the preseason, I change many things, "Pouille said. "I took my own physical trainer. He's traveling almost every time with us so we can work every day. Even in tournaments we keep working. We keep working.
"I think mentally I'm stronger. I took a lot of confidence. The way I'm going on court is not the same as last year. Yeah, I think that's why I'm better than the year before. Of course, I'm a bit older, as well."
It was a difficult Grand Slam season for the 30-year-old Nadal. He lost in the first round of the Australian Open, then withdrew after the second round at Roland Garros with a wrist injury that forced him to miss Wimbledon. This was, by far, his best effort.
Afterward, Nadal said his wrist was improving and he would play for the next two months and try to qualify for the ATP World Tour finals in London.
"Today my attitude, my motivation was great," Nadal said. "I need to keep improving the level of tennis to come back to the level before my injury. In terms of tennis, I needed to serve better in some moments. I need to create a little more pain on the opponent with my shots. It was something I didn't [do] today.
"I am closer than last year to be what I want to be."
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