Nadal taking positives from defeat to Murray

RAFA NADAL’S slide down the ATP rankings means if he wins a record-extending 10th French Open title early next month it would go down as one of the greatest achievements of his illustrious career. The Spaniard has dropped three places to seventh as a consequence of his 6-3, 6-2 drubbing at the hands of Andy Murray in the final of the Madrid Masters on Sunday. And with another 600 points to defend at this week Rome Masters, the 28-year-old could fall to his lowest ranking for 10 years by the time play begins at Roland Garros on May 24. Not since April 2005, just before his maiden French title, has Nadal (above) been lower than seventh. The Spaniard insisted after losing to Murray that he was beginning to feel the ‘old sensations’ again after struggling to find his best form in the wake of the wrist injury and appendicitis issues that undermined him last year. But the fear factor that once inhibited opponents on the red clay appears to have disappeared. Murray had never beaten Nadal on clay and was thrashed in last year’s French Open semi-final, but on Sunday he won with nonchalant ease. ‘I will just stay with the good things that happened this week, and there are a lot of them, more good than bad. I will try to recover the good feelings in Rome,’ Nadal said.

AUSTRALIA’S Michael Matthews extended his overall Giro d’Italia lead after sprinting to victory in a third stage that saw Italian Domenico Pozzovivo suffer a horrific crash. The Orica-Green-EDGE rider pocketed a 10-second bonus for his win ahead of Italian Fabio Felline (Trek) and Belgian Philippe Gilbert. The stage was marked by the crash of Pozzovivo, who hit the ground head first in a descent with about 40km left. The 32-year-old was carried away motionless but was ‘conscious and lucid’, his AG2R-La Mondiale team said.