Rafael Nadal refused to be downcast after going down to Andy Murray in the final of the Madrid Open, reiterating positive energy as he looked ahead to the Rome Masters.
World No. 4 Nadal was no match for Murray, who claimed his first win over the Spaniard on clay with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the Spanish capital on Sunday. Nadal — a four-time champion in Madrid — has struggled to generate rhythm and consistency since enduring an injury-ravaged 2014 campaign.
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However, the 14-time grand slam winner has already set his sights on the upcoming Internazionali d'Italia, which gets underway on Monday.
"The most important thing is the feelings I have and this week I had much better positive feelings than a few weeks ago so that's very important for me," Nadal told reporters. "There is a chance for me now to have another good week in Rome like I had here.
"Even playing very badly today my feelings on court were not that bad. I just have to accept that it was not my day and forget it because it's not time to think about negative things as I have another match in two days.
"One week ago the feeling was much worse. It's the time to be positive and fight for what's going on and what's going on is Rome next week."
World No. 3 Murray made strong starts to both sets and Nadal failed to seriously trouble his opponent's serve with any regularity.
The victory marked Murray's first against Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer since he won Wimbledon in 2013, and it was a significant success against a man so dominant on clay, ending the Spaniard's hopes of winning the Masters 1000 event for a third year in succession.
Murray made an ideal start to the match, holding to love before breaking Nadal at the first time of asking. He was forced to save a couple of break points at 4-2 up and then one more when serving for the set, but he held his nerve to get himself in front.
Murray carried that momentum into the second set, and Nadal had little answer as the Scot raced into a 4-0 lead.
Nadal did manage to avoid a bagel with a couple of holds, but Murray took advantage of his first match point when the Spaniard sent a weak return into the net.
It was Murray's 10th Masters 1000 victory, and defeat for Nadal will see him drop from fourth to seventh in the rankings.