Rafael Nadal is feeling a little underappreciated.
After advancing to the third round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 7-5 win over Diego Schwartzman — a match in which he committed 40 unforced errors — the world's eighth-ranked player said he's being written off by fans and media like someone ranked much lower.
MORE: U.S. Open 2015 in photos | Celebrities at the U.S. Open
"It seems like I am No. 200 in every press conference," Nadal told reporters. "I am not so bad. After I arrive here with the victory, I come back to the locker room saying how bad I am. Every day.
"(It) seems like I come here, and seems like if I am saying the truth, if I am being honest, it's bad. So then if I am being honest with you guys and I explain what happened to me, I explain if I (was) playing with nerves or with anxiety like I did in Miami and I say after in the press conference, then I don't know what you want of me."
There's a chance that, for the first time since 2004, Nadal could finish the year without a victory in a Grand Slam event. Flushing Meadows is his final shot.
Though he advanced, the 14-time major champion had to overcome an error-filled round. At one point he found himself trailing 5-3 in the first-set tie-break, and during breaks of serve in the second and third sets.
Nadal denied he was inconsistent.
"I didn't have an up-and-down (match) today," he said. "I just played a bad game with the 5-3 in the first set and then I didn't play great, but I didn't play bad. I played a normal match.
"But was not an up-and-down like the other day. I was a single level the whole time."
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic had no such issues Wednesday as he coasted through his second-round match, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 over Austrian Haider-Maurer.
Marin Cilic continued his defense of his 2014 U.S. Open title without trouble against Evgeny Donskoy, beating the Russian 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.
"I'm feeling that the way I'm hitting the ball, the way I'm moving on the court, the way I'm serving, it's really satisfying," Cilic said. "So I'm really on a good way, you know. You never know what can happen in next matches, but overall from this position looking into the next matches, I'm feeling pretty happy with it."
Cilic, the tournament's No. 9 seed, will meet Grigor Dimitrov or Mikhail Kukushkin in the third round.