Rafael Nadal appeared to be cruising in his match against Stefanos Tsitsipas but the Greek rallied to beat Nadal 3-2.
The disbelief was visible in Nadal who was seen shaking his head after he lost his serve late in the final set which gave Tsitsipas the needed break to win the match. Many would say that Nadal lost the match in the tiebreak of the 3rd set with Nadal agreeing that he missed some chances:
“I missed a couple of balls in the [third set] tie-break that I could not miss if I wanted to win. The whole issue is I missed an easy smash at the beginning of the third-set [tie-break], an easy forehand at 2/1 in the tie-break, and then another smash in that tie-break."
Ultimately it gave the Greek the energy boost he needed to turn things around. Nadal stayed positive in the match believing but ultimately as he put it 'It was not enough':
“I think Stefanos played great in the fourth and fifth sets. I tried my best in every single moment, with the right attitude… I think I stayed positive all the time during the match, fighting. And [it] was not enough. Sometimes it's enough. Today, [it] was not enough.”
Even in defeat, Nadal kept a positive attitude calling himself very luck despite the missed opportunity:
“I never considered myself [an] unlucky person at all. [It] doesn't matter the injuries that I had. I think I am a very lucky person. The only thing that I can do is just keep going. I put myself in a position [to be] two sets up in the quarter-finals, close to the semi-finals. Has a chance been lost? Yes, but life continues. I hope to keep having chances [and] I’m going to keep fighting for it.”
Check out the full post-match press conference below: