Rafael Nadal out of U.S. Open in a shocking defeat

Tennis star, Rafael Nadal lost from two sets up for the first time ever in his career, to crash out of the U.S. Open in a five-set, third-round defeat  to Italian Fabio Fognini.

This defeat ensures the double US Open winner, Nadal, will be without a grand slam win in a calendar year for the first time in ten years.

Curiously, 28-year-old Fognini came from two sets down to win 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3,6-4, which came as a great shock for his the 29-year-old Spanish rival.

Earlier 2015 at the Australian Open, Nadal lost in the quarter-finals to Czech Tomas Berdych. He went on to lose in the same stage at the French Open to Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic.

This was before Nadal, seeded as world number eight, was unceremoniously crashed out in the second round of Wimbledon by German qualifier Dustin Brown.

The Spaniard’s humbling, at the Flushing Meadows, means he has only managed to reach two quarter-finals at grand slams this year. Rafa ends the season without a major title since 2004.

Interestingly, 28-year-old Fognini will now face another Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez, in the fourth-round of the US Open.