Novak Djokovic says reaching the semifinals in Madrid meant it was "a positive week" despite his straight-set defeat to Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic had won seven straight matches against the Spaniard, but Nadal has had a better season so far, reaching three hard-court finals and winning two straight titles on clay.
"It wasn't a very high quality of tennis from my side. I made a lot of unforced errors, especially in the first set," said Djokovic. "His quality was very high and he managed to do whatever he wanted, especially in the first set. He did get the better of me in most of the stats today, most of the shots."
However, Djokovic had his best tournament since Doha, his first event of the season. The Serb won two matches and got into the semifinals when his quarterfinal opponent, Kei Nishikori, withdrew with a wrist injury.
He was playing his first event since he stopped working with his coaching team, and said he plans to announce a new coach in a few weeks.
"It was really good to play in the semifinals of a big event and to play against one of the top rivals I have," he said. "It was a positive week and a positive experience. I take more positives than negatives, going into next week in Rome."
Djokovic is No. 2 in the rankings.
