Novak Djokovic once refrained from attributing his semifinal loss to arch-rival Rafael Nadal at the 2017 Madrid Open to the walkover he received in the quarterfinals.

That year, Djokovic entered the Masters 1000 event in Madrid as the defending champion and second seed. He triumphed over Nicolas Almagro and Feliciano Lopez to reach the quarterfinals, where he was set to face Kei Nishikori in a blockbuster clash.

However, the Serb received a walkover and advanced to the semifinals after Nishikori withdrew from the tournament just minutes before the match due to a wrist injury. Subsequently, Rafael Nadal ended Djokovic’s hope of a successful title defense, claiming a commanding 6-2, 6-4 win to reach the final.

During his post-match press conference, Novak Djokovic was asked whether his lack of match practice in the changed temperature conditions due to the walkover contributed to his loss to the Spaniard.

However, the Serb emphasized that he didn’t want to make excuses for why he didn’t play as well as Nadal. He admitted that the Spaniard had simply outplayed him on the day and graciously congratulated his rival on his victory.

“Well, I don’t know. I mean, maybe. I don’t want to find excuses why he played that well and why I didn’t play maybe as well. It’s just as it is. I felt comfortable hitting the ball last few days, physically ready, mentally sharp as well. I was trying my best,” he said.

“But it’s just one of these days where your opponent is just playing better than you, and you have to be able to say, Congratulations, and move on,” he added.

Djokovic also pointed out that Nadal had recorded superior statistics in the match but emphasized that he had plenty of positives to take from his campaign.

“You know, he did get the better of me in most of the stats today, most of the shots. But, as I say, you know, I have lots of good things to take out of this week,” the Serb said.

Novak Djokovic after 2017 Madrid Open SF loss: “Rafael Nadal was obviously a better player, he deserved to win”

During the same press conference, Novak Djokovic acknowledged that Rafael Nadal had been the better player in the 2017 Madrid Open semifinal clash, admitting that the Spaniard deserved the win.

“Well, Rafa was obviously a better player today. He deserved to win. I mean, he was controlling the game from beginning to the end. But, you know, all in all, I did try my best. It wasn’t a very high quality of tennis from my side. I mean, I made a lot of unforced errors, especially first set,” he said.

“Just his quality was very high. You know, he managed to do whatever he wanted really, especially in the first set. I was getting a lot of balls back. He was serving well. He was using his court positioning well,” he added.

The Serb also asserted that the match conditions were vastly different from earlier in the week, conceding that the Spaniard handled the prevailing conditions better than he did.

“Today was warmer than last three, four days, so conditions were quite different. The ball was bouncing very high. Well, he managed to be better in these kind of conditions,” he said.

Following his triumph over Djokovic, Rafael Nadal went on to win his fifth Madrid Open title, beating ninth seed Dominic Thiem 7-6(8), 6-4 in the final.