"Yeah, I feel like I've made progress as a human. A tennis player, I don't really care about as much," Kyrgios said after he fell to Rafael Nadal. "But yeah, I mean, I feel good. Obviously today was horrendous, like the news [of Bryant's passing]. But I want to keep going in this direction, for sure." Kyrgios played superb tennis in the four-set loss. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video He looked a touch tight in the early exchanges of the first set - which cost him a service break and eventually, the set - but went toe-to-toe with the world No. 1 for the remainder of the match.

He simply faced an opponent who had hit top gear at the right end of the tournament. In Kyrgios' eyes, he is playing better tennis than he was when he made the quarter-finals four years ago. Kyrgios lost a brilliant four set encounter against Nadal. Credit:Getty Images "I mean, I think I'm playing better tennis than I was. You look at my draw back then [compared] to the opponents I played this time around, [it was] probably a lot tougher this time around," he said. "But, I mean, looking how far I've come, I guess there were only 15 players better than me in the draw. That was for Zverev, but that was a joke," he said, to laughter.

"No, I mean, I feel like I'm playing good tennis. As I said tonight, I was a couple points away from winning. But that's how it goes sometimes." Nadal was at his superhuman best on Monday night. Nadal was at his superhuman best on Monday night. Credit:Getty Images As the sun went down and the court slowed, conditions suited the Spaniard. He returned everything, forcing Kyrgios to win points three times over before reaping any reward.

"It was really, really slow, especially when the sun went down. I thought halfway through the second, third and fourth were really, really slow," Kyrgios said. "It was freezing in that arena. I just couldn't get a ball past him. I was trying to serve and volley, trying to dropshot. Eventually I would have to win the point three times to win a point. That's just the champion he is, the player he is. He makes you play the extra ball. Nick Kyrgios reflected on his summer after losing to Rafael Nadal. Credit:Getty Images "I thought he played well, considering how slow it was. I mean, he served really well, I thought. Hit his backhand slice really well. I mean, he played well. He just played the bigger points well, better than I did." Nadal had nothing but compliments for the Australian No. 2 when he fronted the press post match.

Loading "I am never against his way or style to play. When I criticise him in the past is because I think he did a couple of things that are not right and are not the right image for our sport and for the kids," Nadal said. "But when he's doing the right things, I am the first one who support this. Personally, I saw him playing during the whole tournament almost every match, and he has been great, with very positive attitude. Nadal was full of compliments for Kyrgios. Credit:AAP "Personally, I like to watch him play when he's doing that way. I think everybody likes to watch Nick play when he's able to play like this. His talent is to be one of the best of the world, without a doubt, with good chances to fight for every tournament."