Now is not the moment to be down and say goodbye ...

From Rafa's very down-beat pre-match interview to a matched display to 3-3 in the first set, going 0-30 down in the 7th game leant itself to an "uh-oh" moment and it was downhill all the way from there as Rafa never won another game.

Let's see how he felt about it all from The Telegraph today ...

"Now is not the moment to be down and say goodbye, it is the the moment to keep fighting" Nadal said. "I'm still in the tournament and I will be in the semi-finals if I win the next match. I didn't play badly in the first set so I must keep a positive attitude and just accept that he played better than me."

Nadal admitted it was impossible to live with Federer in that kind of form on one of his favourite surfaces.

"I accept he played a fantastic level. A very, very top level. Something that only one player like Roger can arrive at." Nada said. "When you play against Federer and he's playing like this, the only way to stay in the match is to get free points with the serve and I couldn't do that.

"He was too good for me. When I beat him in the Roland Garros final in 2009, it was a similar thing but the difference is that was the final of a Grand Slam and this was a round-robin match. But his level is probably higher here because all the conditions are perfect for him as the bounce is not too high and there is no wind. In these conditions he can attack better than on other surfaces. But if he plays like this in the other surfaces he will still beat me. That is true."

The world number two has been struggling with a shoulder injury of late and also felt ill during his victory over Mardy Fish on Sunday. And while he wouldn't blame the defeat on those problems, he did admit he had been unable to practice on Monday due to the shoulder injury.

"I woke up with the shoulder problem so I had to work to recover from that and I didn't get a chance to practice." he said. "I didn't know if I would be able to play today, but it didn't affect my match because I felt perfect. It won't be the last time I lose a match like this. I will try my best to play against him another time in this tournament."

That's the spirit, Rafa.