Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal among names targeting Madrid Open glory
Wednesday 4 May 2016 08:49, UK
Andy Murray has been placed in Rafa Nadal's half of the draw for the Madrid Open, with the Spaniard keen to continue his superb return to form.
Defending champion Murray comes to Madrid of the back of a much improved showing in Monte Carlo where he reached the semi-final, only to run into a Nadal beginning to show signs that he is back to his very best.
Murray beat Nadal to win in Madrid last year while Nadal saw off Murray in three sets on his way to the title in the principality before going on to win in Barcelona and a victory in Madrid this week would set him up perfectly for a run at the French Open later this month where he is aiming to win an unprecedented 10th title at Roland Garros.
Murray and Nadal are joined by Roger Federer and world No 1 Novak Djokovic in an A-list cast in Madrid and after a couple of years on inconsistency it is the Spaniard who arrives as the form player.
"I've been playing well for a while," Nadal said at a promotional event this week. "But you need the results to come along with that."
Murray's win in Madrid last year gave him his first ever Masters title on clay and the world No 2 practiced with Nadal at the Spaniard's tennis academy in Manacor in the lead up to the tournament.
And Murray, whose season has been disjointed after some time off following the birth of his first child, is well aware of Nadal's capabilities
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"Every player goes through periods where they don't necessarily play as well as they have done previously," Murray said.
"Rafa is still one of the best players on the surface and he still works as hard as he can on and off the court. I am sure he has gone away and worked at things since last year, so it's hard to say if he'll ever be back up to where he was, I guess we will have to wait and see."
In terms of the defence of his title Murray admits last year he was in top condition before claiming a memorable success over the home favourite.
"My preparation last year was probably the best it's ever been for the clay," said the the Scot.
"I prepared for the event more thoroughly than I had done in previous years. When you have done everything you can do to ensure that you're ready for the surface, it gives you confidence."
Federer, a winner in Madrid in 2012, added Madrid to his schedule in the last week as he steps up prepertions for the French Open and he is in the same half of the draw as Murray and Nadal - if the draw pans out he could play the Spaniard in the quarter finals.
The Swiss while play either Nicholas Mahut or Joao Sousa, Murray will face either Vasek Pospisil or a qualifier while Nadal faces either Viktor Troicki or Andrey Kuznetsov.
In the other half of the draw, Djokovic will be looking for a third Masters title of the year but after success in Indian Wells and Miami he faces a particularly tricky assignment with clay-court specialist Nicolas Almagro or talented teenager Borna Coric his second round opponent.
Djokovic's only Madrid title came in 2011 and he will be keen to make amends for a shock second round defeat to Jiri Vesely in Monte Carlo.
You can follow all the action on Sky Sports this week with the action getting underway at 11am on Sky Sports 3 on Monday.
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