Breaking It Down: Nadal Vs. For world number one Novak Djokovic the best defense has proven to be more offense. Djokovic narrowly lost in four sets to Rafael Nadal in the final of the French Open on Monday after being seemingly dead and buried down two sets to love and a break in the third. Djokovic produces his very best when his back is against the wall and amazingly won eight straight games from 0-2 in the third set to 2-0 in the fourth set before Nadal finally held serve when play was suspended for the evening due to rain. Winning eight straight games against Nadal at Roland Garros should come with a trophy all of its own. An analysis of those eight games highlights the way Djokovic handles the adversity that is bound to come at some stage in all matches he plays - when attacked, he becomes the attacker. Djokovic amazingly won 73 percent of the points (36 points to 13) during the 8-game stretch while he was only able to win 48 percent of the points for the entire match. During this purple patch of eight games that lasted 48 minutes and nearly dashed Nadal's historic bid for a seventh French Open title, Djokovic hit nine winners including two of his three aces for the match. Stepping up under pressure has become a trademark of Djokovic's reign and it was the Nadal forehand that he really went after. Nadal was able to hit three forehand winners during this period but he committed 17 forehand errors (15 groundstroke / 2 return) as Djokovic attacked with superior court position and rushed Nadal's preparation time. Nadal also made 12 backhand errors (9 groundstroke / 3 return) as he was pushed both deep and wide in the Ad court from Djokovic's lethal cross court forehand and backhand down the line. Djokovic was committed to coming forward as well and won 4/6 (66 percent) of approach points in this period. Staying back and rallying was no longer an option as that is what got him into this mess to begin with. Djokovic went down 2-0 in the third set when he was forced into a backhand error serving at 0-1 15-40, and the end of the match suddenly got a lot closer. He showed no negative emotion at all as he walked back and toweled off. He was slow and deliberate even though the scoreboard now read 6-4, 6-3, 2-0 in Nadal's favor. Djokovic began his improbable run by approaching twice and forcing three forehand errors to break Nadal and get back on serve at 1-2. Djokovic fell behind 0-30 on his serve so he became even more aggressive by serving and volleying for the first time in the match out wide to Nadal's backhand in the deuce court, putting an easy forehand volley winner away in the open court. Getting to the net was the only thing that was working for him at this stage in the match as he was 12/17 (70 percent) approaching. Djokovic needed to shorten the point and the serve and volley play confirmed it. Djokovic made 9/10 first serves and survived two deuces to scrape back even to 2-2 and then broke to lead 3-2 by forcing four forehand errors from Nadal. Djokovic held to go 4-2 by making all five first serves, including his first ace of the match out wide in the Ad court. Djokovic surged further ahead for a 5-2 lead after Nadal held a game point but missed a backhand down the line. Djokovic's confidence was growing by the minute and he started the 5-2 game with an ace down the T and easily held to love when Nadal missed a forehand return long. The improbable was now reality and Djokovic had stolen the third set like a thief in the night. Djokovic started the fourth set with a backhand return winner that skipped off the baseline and Nadal's worst nightmare showed no signs of stopping. At 15-15 they played a magnificent 44-shot rally that was the longest of the entire tournament. Djokovic punished Nadal and attacked his legs, making him hit 16 backhands and 6 forehands in a gut-wrenching point that ended with Nadal hitting 9 of the last 10 shots as backhands until he faltered and dumped a backhand in the net. Djokovic broke Nadal with a backhand crosscourt passing shot and punched the air, now holding a break of serve in the fourth set. Djokovic held to go up 2-0 without dropping a point and just like that he had won the last eight games in a row to get himself back up off the canvas. Earlier in the tournament Djokovic also had to summon his fighting qualities to come back from two sets down against Andres Seppi in the fourth round, and then saved four match points against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarters. Djokovic may have lost this final and the opportunity to hold four grand slam trophies in a row, but his comeback heroics and mental toughness were a highlight and a privilege to watch at this year's French Open.