"Best performance of the year" - Djokovic after Madrid opener

"I would probably rate it as the best performance of the year. I felt very good on the court. [The] interruption probably helped me a bit more than him. Conditions of the training days in the past three days were different than what we experienced tonight. It was slower, and obviously because of the rain it was heavier court and [there was] more clay."

"It's hard to compare the matches obviously. Here is altitude, different conditions. In Belgrade, I played [the] final coming off from three matches where I played long three sets, and physically [I was] a little bit exhausted and drained."

"Unfortunately in the third set that was deciding factor, to lose the match. But here, first match of the tournament, I had a week, 10 days to get ready for this match, and for this tournament I have done everything I possibly can to build my fitness and also improve on all aspects of the game, on the court. I'm really glad that it paid off, because I felt good on the court. It's the right process, and it's the right direction."

"[It was] just generally [a] very, very good performance. I'm very pleased, considering that up to today I was not playing my best tennis in the few tournaments that I played this year and still kind of finding my rhythm, finding my groove,”