CINCINNATI, Ohio: Rafa Nadal's semifinal exit at the Cincinnati Masters on Saturday had exceeded his own expectations, the former world No 1 said.

The Spaniard was outplayed 6-1, 6-4 by fourth seed Novak Djokovic in the last four, admitting that beating the Serb was "a step too far" at this stage of his return. He was appearing in just his second tournament after two months out due to injury.

But Nadal said reaching the quarterfinals in Montreal last week and the last four in Cincinatti had been even better than he hoped for going into the US Open that starts on Aug 31.