After more than four hours of battle on the Central, Rafael Nadal was already at a press conference even before Novak Djokovic left the court of his feat. The Spaniard, who held on to courage, knows full well that he has wasted too many opportunities.
How did this match turn out?
RAFAEL NADAL. At first, he played a little less well, made mistakes. Then the playing conditions were a bit slower. We had played with high rebounds in the heat and the situation was reversed with the night. Conditions have become more favorable for him. It’s tennis. The player who gets used the best deserves to win. No doubt about it, he deserved to win.
It didn’t go far in the third set …
It’s sport. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I tried to give the best of myself. It was probably not my best day on the pitch. I fought, I made a lot of efforts… Even not being very efficient, I had a great chance with the set point at 6-5. Anything can happen at that time. Then I double fault at the start of the tie-break, I miss an easy end. These kinds of mistakes can happen. But if you want to win, you can’t make these mistakes. It was a good fight. I did my best and today was not my day.
Can you tell us about the atmosphere at Le Chatrier?
The support was amazing, right? I don’t have enough words to thank the audience. I was very tired at times, but the audience gave me the energy to keep going. It is very moving for me to feel the love of people in the most important place of my career as a tennis player. So thank you very much to them.
