Rafael Nadal has described his epic five-set loss to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final as 'the toughest match he has ever played'.
A courageous Nadal went down to the world number one 7-5 4-6 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 in a five-hour-and-53-minute marathon, the longest Grand Slam final in history, and one that will go down possibly as the greatest match of all time.
The Spaniard had his chances to win at Melbourne Park, most notably when he went 4-2 and 30-15 up on serve in the decider, seemingly on top of an ailing Djokovic, but the Serbian found extra reserves to pull off the most monumental of wins in the early hours on Monday morning.
Nadal said it was a pleasure to take part in such an epic duel, one that will go down in the tennis annals alongside his historic five-set win over Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2008.
"Physically (it) was the toughest match I ever played, if not the tougher. I am tired," an exhausted Nadal said.
"(It was) a pleasure. That means that I did a lot of things well to compete against (the) best players of the world and winning (against) them, losing (against) them, but always having tough matches."
"(The) 2008 Wimbledon final and this one was very special. For me it was a little bit more special - the 2008 (Wimbledon final)."
"But I really understand that was a really special match, and probably a match that gonna' be in my mind not because I lost, no, because the way that we played. So (I am) happy to be part of these two great matches."
"I wanted to win, but I am happy about how I did. I had my chances against the best player (in) the world today. I played one against one."
"For a long time I didn't (feel) that I was playing in less advantage than him, you know. I didn't play at a lower level than him for a long time, so that's a very positive thing for me."
Having hailed Roger Federer as the greatest player of all time, Nadal said Djokovic was well on his way to becoming one of the greats with his fifth Grand Slam victory, including four of the last five.
"Now he's the best of the world," Nadal said.
"That's how great it is. Five Grand Slams, so the history says that he has a part in the history today winning five Grand Slams, winning a lot of titles, number one of the world. We'll see where he arrives."
Nadal said he had no regrets in the match despite blowing his chance to go 5-2 up in the fifth before Djokovic recovered to break back twice.
"Just accept (the loss). I think we played a great tennis match. It was I think a very good show, my opinion. I enjoyed being part of this event and this match," he said.
"Yeah, I had big chance for the 5-2, yes. I had that easy passing shot with the backhand. I miss it, yes, but I was 4-3 love-40 in the fourth, too. Anything can happen when the match is there."
"I played a fantastic first point of the 4-2 with the forehand winner down the line after he had that return. Is something unbelievable how he returns, no? His return probably is one of the best of the