Rafael Nadal revealed that the most satisfying loss in his career was against Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open final three years ago.

In an interview with his uncle Miguel Angel, Nadal confessed that despite falling short against Djokovic in the final round of the Australian Open in 2012, it was the most satisfying loss in his 14-year career as a professional tennis player. “2011 was a positive year because I reached so many finals and I was at the top, but at the same time I lost more than one time to the same player (Djokovic) many important matches,” Nadal told Tennis World USA. “But in that match I changed the dynamic, playing as I would like to. I was satisfied, yes".

Nadal also noted that the 2008 edition of the French Open was the tournament that gave the Spaniard less satisfaction and was the easiest tournament he played in his tennis career. However, the 14-time Grand Slam winner admitted that the 2008 Roland Garros event gave him less satisfaction on an emotional level.

" What satisfies me most is reaching a certain result knowing what I did in terms of sacrifices and what I did to get it,” Nadal added. “Roland Garros, maybe, gave me less satisfaction in this sense, but it's the tournament where I've played my best tennis surely.”

Nadal survived the second round of the ATP Swiss Indoors in Basel after defeating Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 4-6 6-3 on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT). The “King of Clay,” who improved to 54-17 on the year, said winning against the 24-year-old Dimitrov is important for his confidence going into the next round, according to ATP World Tour’s official website.

Meanwhile, Stan Wawrinka exited in his first round for the fourth straight year after being beaten by Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 3-6 7-6(2) 6-4. Roger Federer, who is looking for his seventh Basel title, will face Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round of the tournament after cruising past Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1 6-2.

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