Rafael Nadal loses to Fabio Fognini in third round in US Open

Rafael Nadal is out of the US Open after losing a five-set 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 third-round thriller to Italian Fabio Fognini at 1:27 Saturday morning at Flushing Meadows in New York.

Fogini placed No. 30 won a total of 154 points to 152 for the 29-year-old world No. 8.

"He played great," said Nadal, shaking his head. "He win so, accept that he played better than me. That's what happened. My mind allowed me to fight until the last point, [in recent years] I was not always able to do that. It's an improvement for me. That's a positive thing. Happy with that."

"With Rafa it's never easy," Fognini said afterward. "Right now I can tell you something more. Something incredible I did today. Two sets to love against Rafa, maybe you have to lose. But I win. Everything was in a perfect way."

Nadal will go a calendar year without winning a single major tournament.

It is the first time  Nadal twice a US Open champion  has lost in a Grand Slam having been two sets up.

Fognini, 28, faces Feliciano Lopez of Spain in the fourth round. He is the first man to ever beat Nadal from two sets down in a slam.