Tennis

Federer and Nadal braced for classic French Open showdown

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-18 10:08

In-form Spaniard avenges 2009 final defeat with 6-4, 7-6 victory

Federer and Nadal braced for classic French Open showdown

Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates his victory against Swiss Roger Federer in the final of the Madrid Masters on Sunday at the Caja Magic sports complex in Madrid. Nadal won 6-4, 7-6. [Agencies]

MADRID - Roger Federer shrugged off his Madrid Masters final defeat against Rafael Nadal and insisted it's all to play for at the French Open where he is the defending champion.

"The claycourt season will not be judged here, but in Paris," said the world No 1 after his 6-2, 7-6 (5) loss to his great Spanish rival in Sunday's final.

"We will see what happens in three weeks. I feel I'm ready for Paris. I felt a major improvement in my game compared to last week when I came here from Estoril."

Nadal moved back to No 2 behind Federer, a 16-time winner at majors, in Monday's world rankings, displacing Novak Djokovic.

It'll be a timely boost for Nadal with Roland Garros getting underway on Sunday and where he was the four-time champion until he suffered a shock fourth-round exit last year.

The Spaniard became the first man to claim three major clay titles - Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid - before the start of Roland Garros while victory also gave him an astonishing 18th Masters trophy, one more than Andre Agassi and two ahead of Federer and the all-time best mark.

A year ago, Federer defeated Nadal in the Caja Magica final, then carried the victory momentum to the French Open where he lifted his first title with a defeat of Robin Soderling to complete a career Grand Slam.

Despite his phenomenal run on the dirt, Nadal remains outwardly unimpressed with his standing in the sport.

"I'm only motivated by the tournaments, being ranked No 2 means nothing to me," he said.

"My aim is to be at my best in each tournament, both technically and physically.

"I've been at my best throughout the season and this has been a great satisfaction for me after all the work. I couldn't have dreamed of how I won in Monte Carlo (losing just 14 games all week).

"But we can speak of all of this when my career is over. I'm almost 24 (June 3) and I trust I'll be able to play many more matches and win many more tournaments. You never know when it will all end."

Nadal now heads to Paris with all guns blazing as he bids to wipe out last year's fourth-round loss to Soderling and resume his trophy chase after winning the first four editions he played in the French capital.

Federer is also looking at the bigger picture.

"After seven months on hardcourts it's tough to dominate. In my clay losses (Ernests Gulbis in the Rome second round and Alberto Montanes in the Estoril semifinals) I still played well," he said.

"They were good for me, but I gained lots of confidence this week. Considering where I was a week ago, I've made lots of progress.

Nadal, now with 39 titles to his name, leads Federer 14-7 in career meetings, winning ten of their past 12.

The Spaniard stands 28-2 in claycourt finals, his two losses coming at the hands of Federer, including Madrid a year ago.

Nadal moved into a tie in fifth place in the list of claycourt title winners with his 28 alongside Bjorn Borg and Ilie Nastase. Argentine Guillermo Vilas leads the table on 45.

Nadal and Federer have combined to win 18 of the past 20 Grand Slam titles.