Federer, Nadal braced for French Open showdown

Roger Federer shrugged off his Madrid Masters final defeat against Rafael Nadal and insisted it's all to play for at the French Open where he is the defending champion.

"The claycourt season will not be judged here, but in Paris," said the world number one after his 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) loss to his great Spanish rival in Sunday's final.

"We will see what happens in three weeks. I feel I'm ready for Paris. I felt a major improvement in my game compared to last week when I came here from Estoril."

Nadal moved back to number two behind Federer, a 16-time winner at majors, in yesterday's new world rankings, displacing Novak Djokovic.

It'll be a timely boost for Nadal with Roland Garros getting underway on Sunday and where he was the four-time champion until he suffered a shock fourth round exit last year.

The Spaniard became the first man to claim three major clay titles - Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid - prior to the start of Roland Garros while victory also gave him an astonishing 18th Masters trophy, one more than Andre Agassi and two ahead of Federer, and the all-time best mark.

A year ago, Federer defeated Nadal in the Caja Magica final, then carried the victory momentum to the French Open where he lifted his first title with a defeat of Robin Soderling to complete a career Grand Slam.

Despite his phenomenal run on the dirt, Nadal remains outwardly unimpressed with his standing in the sport.

"I'm only motivated by the tournaments, being ranked number two means nothing to me," he said.

"My aim is to be at my best in each tournament, both technically and physically.

"I've been at my best throughout the season and this has been a great satisfaction for me after all the work. I couldn't have dreamed of how I won in Monte Carlo (losing just 14 games all week).

"But we can speak of all this when my career is over. I'm almost 24 (June 3) and I trust I'll be able to play many more matches and win many more tournaments. You never know when it will all end."

Nadal now heads to Paris with all guns blazing as he bids to wipe out last year's fourth-round loss to Soderling and resume his trophy chase after winning the first four editions he played in the French capital.

Federer is also looking at the bigger picture.

"After seven months on hard courts it's tough to dominate. In my clay losses (Ernest Gulbis in the Rome second round and Alberto Montanes in the Estoril semi-finals) I still played well," he said.

"They were good for me, but I gained lots of confidence this week. Considering where I was a week ago, I've made lots of progress.

Nadal and Federer have combined to win 18 of the past 20 Grand Slam titles.