How do you see this match?
Rafael Nadal
: I had the game under control at the start, I played well for six games, probably better than him.
Afterwards, when I served to lead 5-2, I had a disastrous play.
Then I missed a break point (in the next game).
From there, against a great player, with such a fast court, in perhaps more favorable conditions for him, I missed something.
I'll work to make sure that doesn't happen again in the next few days.
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How do you compare it with your loss in Monte-Carlo in mid-April, already in the quarter-finals?
It's a different game than against (Andrey) Rublev, where the conditions were much more favorable for me. Here, the feeling of loss of control is much more important, so that when you lose, you have the feeling that things are going even worse than in reality. For most of the first set, I was better than him, and that's the negative: I lost 6-4 being better. This is something that is difficult for me to understand. Usually if that happens, it's the other way around: I sometimes win sets when I play worse than my opponent. There, because of some unjustified mistakes,I end up with a set behind and the perspective becomes completely different.
What is your assessment of this week?
I took steps forward, but when you go up a staircase, there are times when you happen to take a step back, that's what happened today (Friday).
Everything had gone very well throughout the week, both in training and in matches.
Today, it started well too, but in the moment of truth, in the important moments, I did everything wrong.
It's a week where there have been a lot of positive things.
I am leaving Madrid with good feelings in general, and the bad one from having played a match like today's.
Now, what is the goal before Roland-Garros?
Go to Rome and win, that's all.
Interview at a press conference
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