So here we are at the third and last clay-court Masters 1000 event of the year in Madrid and the top players' final warm-up tournament before the French Open.
On the top half of the draw is defending champion and No. 1 seed Roger Federer who has been struggling to find his form on clay recently. On the bottom half is No. 2 seed and Monte Carlo-Rome winner Rafael Nadal, who will once again be attempting to win an unprecedented three clay-court Masters 1000 events in the same season - something Nadal has been trying to achieve since 2005 (He's gone 2 out of 3 each time).
A rematch of last year's final at La Caja Magica beckons. Hopefully, Roger and Rafa will live up to the expectations.
Fun facts:
If Federer wins in Madrid:
* He will tie Agassi and Nadal for the record of most Masters 1000 titles at 17
* He is assured of breaking Sampras' record for most weeks at #1, even if he skips the French Open
If Nadal wins in Madrid:
* He will be the all-time leader in Masters shields won at 18, sweeping all three clay-court Masters 1000 events in the process
* He will regain the #2 ranking, and will be in position to regain #1 if he wins the French and Federer doesn't reach the finals in BOTH Madrid and Roland Garros (the equivalent of earning about 1,000 ranking points)
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