Nadal pleased with play

"Maybe I play my best match in New York here today," Nadal said after Youzhny beat him 6-3 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 on Wednesday. "My best tennis.

"Youzhny was playing unbelievable tennis, especially in the beginning"

Though he believes he outplayed the Russian in a critical third set, Nadal could not finish Youzhny off, failing to capitalise on a triple set point and a 5-4 lead in the tie-break before eventually losing the set.

"I am happy with my tennis," said the World No. 2. "But I was not playing with my best calm in the important moments."

"I was playing better than him [in the third set]," Nadal added. "And I lost an important opportunity to be in the semi-finals.

Nadal, considered a clay-court specialist before a strong string of performances off the clay in 2006, had struggled on the hard-court before improving this season with a victory over World No. 1 Roger Federer at Dubai in March.

His first quarter-finals appearance at the US Open has capped off a great season, in which he retained his French Open title, defeated Federer four times before losing to him in the Wimbledon final, and broke the record for consecutive clay-court victories.

"I play final in French Open, I play final in Wimbledon, I am in quarters here, I cannot say I am not happy with my year."

"[Still] I want to play good in every tournament, and I want to play the final in every tournament."

The Spaniard acknowledged disappointment with his US Open as a whole, but is already looking to the next Grand Slam in January.

"I cannot say I am very happy with my tournament. I lost in the quarter-finals. I am the No. 2 in the world, so I lost with the last eight...."

"I know I play good tennis, but I want to improve. My special goal is next year in Australia."