NEW YORK—Rafael Nadal says he is still making progress despite his five-set defeat at the U.S. Open.
Nadal, who had never previously lost a match from two sets up at a major, fell to Fabio Fognini after leading their third-rounder by two sets and break. It was his third defeat to the Italian this year; Fognini defeated him twice on clay before Nadal got a win over him in the Hamburg final.
However, Nadal found his competitive attitude through the match to be a positive, saying he has improved since returning from illness and injury during the beginning of the season.
"The good thing is I am not playing terrible matches like I did at the beginning of the season. When I am losing, I am losing because the opponents beat me, not because I lose the match, as I did a lot of times at the beginning of the season," he said. "That's an improvement for me, so I have a base now. That is a start. I know what I have to do and I going to work on it."
As an example, Nadal noted that he allowed his opponent to take the initiative, saying, "He's a player with a great talent, with huge shots, and he played amazing shots. But what I am doing worse is playing worse than what I used to do the last couple of years.
"If you are playing with less confidence and you are hitting balls without creating the damage on the opponent that I believe I should do, then they have the possibility to attack. I am playing with little bit less mistakes than before. I have better feelings on the ball. Now remain to have again the speed, that extra speed on the ball, on the winner."
Nadal plans to play a full indoor season, including Davis Cup, Beijing, Shanghai, Basel, the Paris Masters, and, if he qualifies, the ATP World Tour Finals.
Nadal will be No. 7 in the rankings following the tournament.