Rafael Nadal v Novak Djokovic: all signs point to a titanic clash in final of Mutua Madrid Open

That is the most likely scenario, given that Djokovic has won all 27 matches that he has played this year — including five tournaments — while Nadal’s last defeat on clay came fully 34 games and two years ago against Robin Soderling in Paris.

Unless someone pulls off a stunning feat of giant-killing, it will be the indomitable Serb against the invincible Spaniard on Sunday. Djokovic has the form, having beaten his former nemesis in five of their last six meetings, but Nadal will enjoy both the fervent support of his home crowd and the shift from hard courts to clay, the surface he has made his personal fiefdom.

Can anyone derail either of these two trains before they meet head-on? Well, Andy Murray has a shot at a semi-final against Djokovic — a potential rematch of the Australian Open final – if he can come through a quarter of the draw that includes Gael Monfils and Tomas Berdych.

But this would be a lot to ask. While the Big Two have been polishing their latest trophies, Murray has only just emerged from the worst losing streak of his career — the one that started with that morale-shredding loss to Djokovic at Melbourne Park, and continued through inept performances in Rotterdam, Indian Wells and Miami.

He has been in Spain for over a week, first recovering from the sore elbow that kept him out of the Barcelona Open, and then working with Darren Cahill, the team adidas coach who will help him as a consultant until a more permanent coaching appointment can be found. There was also a 16-game practice match against Nadal himself, which ended up in an 8-8 draw.

Granted a first-round bye, Murray will enter the singles on Wednesday against either the Frenchman Gilles Simon or Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic — a demanding opener for a man with little live tournament action behind him, but one he should survive if he recovers the form he showed in Monte Carlo last month.

On Tuesday, Murray is expected to play doubles with brother Jamie, but the main attraction at the Park Manzanares will be Mikhail Youzhny’s tussle with the unseeded Juan Martin del Potro, a dangerous “floater” in the men’s draw who dominated all-comers in the Estoril Open last week.

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Andy Murray hopes practice with Rafael Nadal can raise his game

Andy Murray is enlisting the help of the world No1, Rafael Nadal, as he looks to regain top form over the next few weeks. The Scot begins his clay-court season here, searching for confidence having lost all three of his matches since losing the final of the Australian Open in January. He admits he may not find a new full-time coach until after Wimbledon and plans to use Adidas's Darren Cahill and Sven Groeneveld leading into the French Open. In the meantime who better than the world's best player to lend his old friend a helping hand?

The two men will practise together at the Monte Carlo Country Club and getting up close and personal with one of the best players ever to pick up a racket, on his favourite surface, at one of his favourite stops on the tour can surely be only of benefit to Murray. While Nadal said that he watches videos of his old matches to remind him how to play on clay; Murray said he would benefit by doing the same – of Nadal.

"You need to watch others to see what others do better," Murray said. "The one thing that Rafa does very well is his movement. Behind the baseline he moves diagonally back to the ball so he takes it at the highest point. If you move across the baseline too much, that's when the bad bounces can make you mis-hit the ball. You need to make sure that you always take the ball at the highest point. You can get away with half-volleys on hard courts and on grass but it doesn't work on clay."

This time last year Murray was whistled off court when he was beaten 6-2, 6-1 by Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in his first match, a hangover from his defeat by Roger Federer in the 2010 Australian Open final. He says he is practising well and believes he is coping better with the disappointment of a third grand-slam final defeat, this time to Novak Djokovic, a man who has yet to be beaten this year.

Seeded No3 with Djokovic absent, Murray is due to begin his campaign against the Czech Radek Stepanek. His defeat by Kohlschreiber kick-started a turnaround in his fortunes last year. The Scot will hope his renaissance comes even sooner this time round.

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Andy Roddick crashes out of Sony Ericsson Open as Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer ease through

By Sportsmail Reporter
Last updated at 11:42 AM on 27th March 2011

Defending champion Andy Roddick made a shock early exit from the Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday, suffering a second round loss to Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas 6-4 7-6.   

The world No 8, who struggled physically and needed medical treatment during the second set, said that he was likely suffering from a lingering bronchial infection.

'I had a little trouble breathing out there today. I've had something for a little while but I'm going to have it checked out when I get home,' the American revealed.   

Green Mile: Andy Roddick was surprising knocked out of the Sony Ericsson Open in the second round

Roddick was broken in the seventh game as 67th-ranked Cuevas took charge and although he battled on in a tight second set, he looked sluggish and bowed out in the tiebreak with consecutive forehand errors.   

'I'm just frustrated. You don't like going out there with less than what you have got and I feel like I have been doing that a lot,' he said. 'It's not like I'm super mad because I had chances or lost or didn't play. It's just frustrating.'   

The win was the first for Cuevas against a top 10 ranked player and left the tournament without another drawcard after Britain's Andy Murray was defeated by U.S. qualifier Alex Bogomolov on Friday.   

Meanwhile No 1 seed Rafael Nadal had no such problems and was satisfied with his 6-4 6-4 win over Kei Nishikori of Japan.   

Stretching his run: Rafael Nadal was typically ruthless in his win over Kei Nishikori

'I'm very happy about how I played. I think I played at a high level tonight,' Nadal said. 'The feeling was better than last week, so that's important. My serve worked very well at the end of the match.'   

Leading 2-1 in the first set, Nishikori failed to convert on two break opportunities and Nadal promptly broke the Japanese player in the ensuing game. In the eighth game, Nishikori again failed to convert on two break points.   

Nadal broke Nishikori in the opening game of the second set and held serve to close out the match.   

Fed express: Former World No 1 Roger Federer had few problems in his match

Third seed Roger Federer also advanced, enjoying a routine 6-3 6-3 win over Czech Radek Stepanek earlier on Saturday.   

The victory took Federer alongside Pete Sampras with 762 career wins, equal seventh overall. Jimmy Connors tops the list with 1,241 wins.   

'It's a funny stat,' the Swiss said. 'But it shows how long I have been around already, how much I've won all around the world and on all the different surfaces.'   

Federer, seeking his third Miami title, was ruthless, converting all three of his break point chances.

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Rafael Nadal makes it six in a row at Monte Carlo Masters

"I'm so sorry, Fernando," Nadal said in his champion's speech during the post-match ceremonies, having just demolished his countryman 6-0, 6-1, coming close to what would have been the first 'double bagel' victory of his international career. So polite with a microphone, Nadal has been a brute with his racket, every one of those whippy forehands loaded with topspin and menace.

On the Cote d'Azur, at his favourite tournament, this was the old Rafa, the player who won four consecutive French Opens until his unexpected defeat last season, the man who once went undefeated on the scorched earth for 81 matches.

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In Nadal's opinion, this was the best week of tennis he has produced in a long time, "and the results, they have been unreal", as he dropped a total of just 14 games from his five matches at this Masters-level tournament.

Since Prince Albert succeeded his father in 2005, he has only presented the trophy to one man. It was an emotional day for Nadal, as he won his first singles title since his victory at Rome's Foro Italico last May, and became the first man to score six trophies on the Riviera since an Englishman, Reggie Doherty, more than a century ago.

This tournament is just the start of the clay-court season, and the French Open does not begin in Paris for more than a month yet, but already thoughts are turning to Roland Garros. If Nadal plays like this, he will win the Coupe des Mousquetaires, having experienced defeat in Paris for the first time last season when he lost to Sweden's Robin Soderling in the fourth round. Roger Federer, beware.

Verdasco, on his first appearance in a Monaco final, was perhaps fortunate to have got on the scoreboard at all with that hold of serve at the beginning of the second set, as Nadal had break points in that game that he did not convert. For Verdasco to have had any chance of defeating Nadal, he would have needed to have been playing the best tennis of his life, to have been striking everything off the sweet-spot. And Verdasco plainly wasn't. Even his forehand, which is supposedly his best shot, was malfunctioning, with a number of his strokes landing halfway up the net.

After Verdasco was broken for the first time in the second set, to go 1-2 down, he walked back to his chair while waving both arms, which appeared to be an impression of a bird flapping his wings. Not long after that 'birdie of desperation', Verdasco performed a 'teapot of exasperation', placing his hands on his hips, and then, after he had just lashed a forehand into the net to drop serve once more, the crowd whistled at him.

In all, Verdasco made 32 unforced errors on one of the most excruciating afternoons of his professional life. Verdasco had lost his previous nine matches against his friend, his countryman and his fellow leftie: the 10th defeat was worse than anything that had come before.

Nadal, who missed the 2004 tournament with injury, has not lost here since 2003, when he was 16. This victory extended his undefeated run in Monaco to 32 matches. An astonishing week of clay-court tennis.

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