NADAL RETURNS TO NO. 1 AFTER ITALIAN TRIUMPH

SYDNEY: Rafael Nadal returned to the top of the world rankings after winning his eighth Italian Open title at the weekend to confirm once more his status as the king of the clay court.

Sunday’s 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, victory over German Alexander Zverev on the Rome dirt ensured the 31-year-old would leapfrog Roger Federer and become world number one for a sixth time ahead of the French Open.

If the rankings were based solely on clay court play, however, the Spaniard would rarely have left the pinnacle in the 13 years since he won the first of his 10 Roland Garros crowns.

With Federer skipping the claycourt season and top seeding long assured, Nadal will head to Paris next week a strong favourite to get his hands on the Coupe des Mousquetaires for a record-extending 11th time.

“Everything will be different in Paris,” Nadal said somewhat disingenuously after his victory at the Foro Italico.

“Of course a win like this helps but in Paris the conditions will be different in every respect. Today is the time to enjoy this victory, not for thinking about Roland Garros.”

Despite losing his first service game on Sunday, Nadal removed any doubts over his fitness and form for the year’s second major in the opening set.

“I played one of the best sets that I played on clay this year. First set was fantastic, in my opinion, in terms of everything,” he added.