The Serb admitted the superiority of the Spaniard but believes he gave everything on the Philippe-Chatrier court in the quarter-finals.
At Roland Garros
Beaten after a marathon of four hours and twelve minutes against Rafael Nadal in four sets (6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6), Novak Djokovic was the first to appear at a press conference, very tardily. The Serb, who claimed to have “given everything“, was “proud to have fought to the endDespite this new failure Porte d’Auteuil, the eighth against the Spaniard in ten confrontations.
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Handsome player, the world number 1 recognized the superiority of the man with 13 victories at Roland-Garros. “Kudos to him. He was better in the important moments of the game when I didn’t start well“, he first explained, referring to Nadal’s very early break in the first set dropped 6-2. “Coming back to a round everywhere I thought I was back. But he released or three fantastic plays at the start of the third set. He managed to play his best tennis at key momentsadded Djokovic.
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“Nole” still showed some regrets, especially in the fourth set. The Serb led 5-2 and even served for the match before cracking when he had two equalizing balls at the end of his racket. “I had opportunities. That would have taken us into a fifth set, where the match could have gone either way at any time. But he showed why he is a great champion“, recognized, good loser the native of Belgrade whose counter of victories in Grand Slam tournament will remain blocked at 20 at the end of the Parisian fortnight. Nadal, he could bring his total to 22, if he manages to be crowned a 14th time.