Tennis: Rafael Nadal to keep working after US Open exit

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal suffered a painful defeat on Sunday night at the US Open against Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who won 6-1 2-6 6-4 3-6 7-6 (8-6) to advance to the quarter-finals of the last Grand Slam tournament of the year. Nadal says he had felt well throughout the tournament and considers his early exit as a missed opportunity for him as he tries to get back into the kind of form that allowed him to be the world number one a few years back. In fact, Nadal dominated his first three matches at the US Open, dropping just 20 games overall, but the defeat against Pouille extends his drought at major tournaments as he has not gone past the quarter-finals since last year's French Open in Roland Garros. For Lucas Pouille this will be his first ever presence in the quarter-finals at the US Open and his second Grand Slam quarter-final after this year's Wimbledon. Nadal recovered from a two-month absence from the circuit and managed to win the Olympic gold medal with Marc Lopez in the doubles event. "I fight until the end," Nadal said after the match. "There were things I could do better. I had the right attitude. I fought right up to the last ball. But I need something else, I need something more that was not there today. I am going to keep working to try to find." Rafa Nadal is 16/1 at Bet365 to win the next Grand Slam tournament, which is the 2017 Australian Open.