Rafael Nadal insists he is still capable of challenging for grand slams despite his surprise fourth round loss to Lucas Pouille at the US Open.
Read:>Lucas Pouille stuns Rafael Nadal at US Open
The Spanish fourth seed was stunned in a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) defeat to Frenchman Pouille at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday.
For the first time since 2004, Nadal failed to reach the quarterfinals of a grand slam in a calendar year – with his run at New York his best.
But the 30-year-old believes he knows what he needs to work on, saying: "You can see it or you can write the way that you want. I know what's going on. I know what I have to do."
"When you are able to play semifinals of Masters 1000s, winning tournaments like Barcelona, playing good tournaments in the other events, it's not a question of level to be in the final rounds of the grand slams.
"It's just a couple of things that for some reasons didn't happen, and you need to be ready to have the auto-critic. You need to be auto-critic.
"It's something that I believe is really going to change."
While Nadal paid tribute to Pouille, the 14-time grand-slam champion did have his chances – leading 4-2 in the fifth set.
He also sent a short forehand into the net at 6-6 in the tie-break, but denied pressure was the reason.
"After winning 14 [grand slams] and being in semifinals a lot of times, you feel that's pressure?" Nadal asked.
"I'm 30-years-old, after having the career that I have had, it's not a question of pressure."
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