Djokovic congratulates Nadal with "He's phenomenal" following his victory of the Roland Garros

Novak Djokovic faced off against Nadal once more in the Roland Garros final and once more he left the court defeated but he spoke honestly after the match.

Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic 6-0 6-2 7-5 to win his 13th Roland Garros title and after the match, the Serbian was honest in his assessment of his performance and the match in general. He said:

“He's phenomenal. He played a perfect match, especially in the first two sets. The third set I managed to come back. I found my groove on the court. Then [there were a] a couple of close games. [I] had my chances, didn't use them. He closed out the match. That's it. He was the far better player on the court today and absolutely deserved to win.”

Nadal played a furious style of play never backing down against Djokovic attacking him relentlessly even after two convincing first two sets. Of that approach Novak said:

He keeps going. [There is] no holding him back it seems. It's amazing. I admire all his achievements, especially the one here. It's stunning, [the] results and records that he's got on this court. He lost two times in his entire career. Winning 13 times. There's not much you can say. All the superlatives you can use, he deserves them."

Djokovic also spoke about what didn't really work form him especially early on admitting he could have played better:

“He was not missing at all and getting every ball back, just playing tactically great,” said Djokovic. “I felt well throughout the entire tournament. I thought I was in great form. Certainly, I could have played better, especially in the first two sets. But he did surprise me with the way he was playing, the quality of tennis he was producing, the level."

In the end he concluded by saying he was beaten by a better player on the day:

“I was overplayed. I was beaten by a guy who was just perfect today. Especially the first two sets… That's all there is to it. I will absolutely not find any other justification for this loss. He was just better.”