All credit to him – Rafael Nadal on his second-round defeat against Tommy Paul

Rafael Nadal gave credit to Tommy Paul after the American defeated him in the second round of the Paris Masters on Wednesday. Paul won 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 to make his way into the third round of the tournament.

Nadal had his chance to stamp his authority in the game as he was set and a break up in the second set but Paul was able to bounce back to take the set into the tiebreaker.

The Spaniard admitted that he played a terrible service game, which changed the momentum in his opponent’s favor. Nadal feels Paul played aggressively and deserved to win.

“It’s okay, no, all the credit to Tommy,” said Nadal when quizzed on whether his injury was responsible for shaping the result. “Things that happens sometimes. But no, it’s good, no? I think he played aggressively, a lot of great shots.

“I had my match in that second set with set and break. I played a terrible game there. Yeah, I didn’t deserve the victory playing that badly in that key moment, no.

Nadal feels he was in a commanding position till that point but the momentum changed after he could not hold his serve. In fact, the former World No.1 was playing his first singles match after the US Open.

“Until that moment was okay, a good match for me. Knowing that is my first match in a while. Then this surface especially you cannot make mistakes with your serve.”

Nadal refused to make any excuse for his loss and feels he didn’t play at his absolute best and thus lost.

“No, a lot of things going on the last couple of months, without a doubt,” he added. “But, yeah, we are always ready to find excuses, but at the end, it’s always the same. You play well, you win; you don’t, you lose.

Nadal will now take part in the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, which will begin on November 13.