Nadal takes Rome on his way to Paris

by harringtola | May 4, 2009 at 06:12 am

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Rafael Nadal, the world's No. 1 player, has lost only one set on clay in the last three weeks, just in time for the French Open.

The top-ranked Spaniard won his record fourth Rome Masters on Sunday, beating defending champion Novak Djokovic 7-6 (2), 6-2 for his third clay-court title in three weeks, adding to his victories at the Monte Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open.

Although Rafeal Nadal is number one in the world he does not exhibit over confidence.

Three down, two to go. If anyone deserves a few days with his feet up, it is Rafael Nadal.

Although he has won the French open four times from 2005 through and including 2008, he has not jumped ahead in his thought process. He is focusing on the next step in the process.

From this weekend, Nadal plays in Madrid, a tournament switched from autumn to spring, from hard court to clay, into the Caja Magica, the magic box

Because of the lousy weather earlier in the week here, Nadal had to win five matches in five days to become the Rome Master for a fourth time — an historic moment. Björn Borg, Jaroslav Drobny, Martin Mulligan and Thomas Muster each won this title three times when it was the plain Italian Open; he has outdone these great champions and is not 23 until next month.

What hurt Djokovic most was that, after forfeiting his first service game from 30-0 and 40-30, he was ahead only once, after the first point of the first-set tie-break. He was never able to breathe easily

Djokovic was the winner in Rome a year ago, but by failing to keep his title, he will lose the No. 3 ranking to Andy Murray on May 11. Djokovic, 21, has been No. 3 since August 2007.