Rafael Nadal may be 19 matches (and 46 sets) unbeaten on his favourite surface, but even one of the sport’s greatest icons isn’t leaving anything to chance in his preparations for the Mutua Madrid Open, where he is a five-time champion.

“I think that I go through a process of adaptation,” said Nadal on Monday. “I have played a couple of tournaments before where I have played really well. In Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, you have the feeling that you are in control of the situation. Here, it’s different. It takes you time to adapt to how the ball bounces and flies.

“Day by day I keep improving. I have better feelings. I’m happy to be back here. It’s always special to play at home. It’s a very, very special moment, a very special occasion for me to be able to play here.”

The 31-year-old superstar, who has sunk his teeth into five titles from nine Mutua Madrid Open finals, arrived early in the Spanish capital to acclimatise in training sessions with Dominic Thiem, who he beat in last year’s championship match, Grigor Dimitrov and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Nadal has already picked up 11th titles at both the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (d. Nishikori) and the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Tsitsipas), where he also passed 400 match wins on clay courts. With a 401-35 lifetime record on the surface (.920), according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone, the best winning percentage of any player in ATP World Tour history, Nadal remains humble of his achievements.

“I don’t think that I am superior to the other players [on clay],” said Nadal. “Maybe some tournaments have been better than others, but that doesn’t guarantee that in the future I’m going to be better than my opponents.

“I’m very happy for all the things that have happened… I’m not worried about being the favourite player or not. I try to do things the best possible way, to be in shape. When I’m able to do this, well, it’s all fine. The day I’m not going to be worried about my shape or about my tennis, that will be the day when I won’t be successful any more.

“I just have to be ready in every single moment [and] be patient. That’s what I’ve done. I’ve always been very respectful of my opponents because each day it’s completely different when you go out there and play on a tennis court. You have to bear in mind that you can either win or lose.”

In the 10th year of play at the Caja Magica, the 31-year-old will be hoping to draw inspiration from the fantastic atmosphere in his first match against France’s Gael Monfils or Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia.

“The crowd is always great. Every year that I’ve played here, I play with the full court with the crowd supporting. The crowd here is special… We had a great event in indoor, [conditions] too, before. But, at the same time, this event is even bigger than what used to be in indoor. The tournament is a great event and hopefully will stay here for a long time.”

No. 48 Joao Sousa, +20
It had long been a dream of Joao Sousa’s: become the first Portugese-born player to win an ATP World Tour title on home soil. And with the crowd’s help on Sunday, Sousa achieved the milestone to win his third ATP World Tour title and first since 2015 Valencia.

He also climbed closer to his career-high ATP Ranking of No. 28, which he reached in May 2016. The right-hander jumped 20 spots to No. 48 and could come close this season to breaking the Top 30 again. Before Estoril, Sousa had reached a semi-final (Marrakech) and beaten two Top 10 players at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments (No. 9 Goffin, Miami; No. 5 Zverev, Indian Wells).

No. 28 Philipp Kohlschreiber, +6
The 34-year-old German veteran climbed back into the Top 30 of the ATP Rankings by reaching the final of the BMW Open by FWU in Munich. Kohlschreiber hadn’t dropped a set before falling to Alexander Zverev, who retained his Munich crown. It was Kohlschreiber’s first final of the season.

No. 40 Stefanos Tsitsipas, +4
In Estoril, the #NextGenATP Greek continued his accelerated pace on the red dirt by making the semi-finals (l. to Sousa) and setting a new career-high in the ATP Rankings. It marked the second consecutive week that the 19-year-old had reached a semi-final and beaten a Top 10 player (d. No. 8 Anderson). In Barcelona, Tsitsipas swept No. 7 Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals before falling to No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the final.

Tsitsipas currently leads the ATP Race To Milan, which will determine seven of the eight players who compete at the 21-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 6-10 November in Milan.

No. 56 Frances Tiafoe, +8
The #NextGenATP American, like Tsitsipas, is having the breakout season of his career. Two months after winning his maiden ATP World Tour title in Delray Beach, Tiafoe made his second tour-level final in Estoril (l. to Sousa). Next for Tiafoe, who matched his career-high of No. 56: cracking the Top 50. The right-hander is currently in second place in the ATP Race To Milan.

See Who’s Trailing Tsitsipas, Tiafoe In The ATP Race To Milan

No. 82 Taro Daniel, +32
The Japanese right-hander hadn’t reached a semi-final before last week in Istanbul, but on Sunday evening, he was celebrating his maiden ATP World Tour title and a new career-high ATP Ranking after beating Malek Jaziri to win the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open.

Daniel, who won four tour-level matches in all of 2017, won five matches in a row in Istanbul, knocking out Italian Matteo Berrettini, Aljaz Bedene of Slovakia, Brazil’s Rogerio Dutra Silva and French veteran Jeremy Chardy before beating Jaziri, who was also competing in his first ATP World Tour final.

A LOOK BACK
Vitro Seoul Open Challenger (Seoul, Korea): Mackenzie McDonald has found his groove as we enter the month of May. The American returned to the winners’ circle with an impressive performance on the hard courts of Seoul, capped by a 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 comeback victory over Jordan Thompson in Sunday’s final. 

McDonald lifted his second ATP Challenger Tour crown and first since October, when prevailed at home in Fairfield, USA. This time, however, the California native found his top gear more than 5,000 miles away from home to take the title at the $100,000 event. Most importantly, he jumps 32 spots in the ATP Rankings to a career-high No. 114.

First title of 2018. Congrats @mackiemacster!

The ?? storms back to lift the Seoul ?, rallying past Jordan Thompson 16 64 61. pic.twitter.com/0w5KfK0o0P

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 6, 2018

The 23-year-old picked up where he left off after bursting out of the gates to open his 2018 campaign. A second round result as a qualifier at the Australian Open was followed by a runner-up finish to Kei Nishikori at the Challenger event in Dallas. And now, he celebrates his first trophy of the season. Having started the year outside the Top 180, McDonald is already closing in on a Top 100 breakthrough.

St. Joseph’s/Candler Savannah Challenger (Savannah, Georgia, USA): Hugo Dellien capped a stunning three-week stretch on the green clay with a 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 victory over Christian Harrison in the Savannah final. The Bolivian has soared more than 100 spots in the ATP Rankings to a career-high No. 129, posting a 13-1 mark in that span. Read more about Dellien’s impressive run…

Puerto Vallarta Open presentado por La Afición (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico): Top seed Adrian Menendez-Maceiras rallied from a set down three times during the week to emerge with the title in Puerto Vallarta. He overcame first-time finalist Danilo Petrovic 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in Saturday’s championship. 

Just steps from the pristine beaches that make the region a popular tourist destination, the inaugural tournament in Puerto Vallarta earned rave reviews from players and fans. And the 32-year-old Spaniard capitalised on the perfect conditions to notch his fourth Challenger title, continuing his Top 100 quest.

Glasgow Trophy (Glasgow, United Kingdom): Scotland returned to the ATP Challenger Tour with the inaugural indoor hard-court event in Glasgow. In the end, it was top seed Lukas Lacko staying true to form in clinching his 12th Challenger crown and first of the year. The Slovakian defeated Italy’s Luca Vanni 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 on Sunday, emerging with the trophy after two hours and nine minutes.

“It definitely was not easy,” said Lacko. “Luca beat me two years ago and both of us like this faster surface where the balls bounce low. So I knew it was not going to be easy and in the end it was just two points that made the difference. I took my chances.”

Top seed @lukilacko is the champ in Glasgow, overcoming Luca Vanni 46 76(3) 64 for the title.

12th #ATPChallenger ? for the ?? pic.twitter.com/jrvn9RN9eD

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 6, 2018

Prosperita Open (Ostrava, Czech Republic): Belgium’s Arthur de Greef had won just five matches from his last 19, as he entered the week at the Prosperita Open. But the 26-year-old turned around his fortunes in a flash, battling to the title on the red clay of Ostrava. De Greef defeated Croatian Nino Serdarusic 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to lift his second Challenger trophy on Sunday. Both of his victories have com on Czech soil, having previously triumphed in Liberec in 2016.

A LOOK AHEAD
As the ATP World Tour’s European clay-court season kicks into high gear at the Mutua Madrid Open, the ATP Challenger Tour features a trio of tournaments on the Euro dirt. 

The prestigious Open du Pays d’Aix is back for a fifth edition. Frances Tiafoe won the title last year and fellow #NextGenATP American Stefan Kozlov is hoping to replicate the feat this week. He is joined by 2016 champion Thiago Monteiro, top seed John Millman and an in-form Cameron Norrie.

In Portugal, the party continues at the inaugural tournament in Braga, which marks the beginning of a two-week swing in the country. A loaded bottom half of the draw features teens Casper Ruud, Alex de Minaur and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

At the Garden Open in Rome, Ruben Bemelmans is the top seed and Hugo Dellien looks to continue his impressive stretch. Taro Daniel, who won his maiden ATP World Tour title on Sunday in Istanbul, is seeded third.

Meanwhile, in Karshi, Uzbekistan, Hubert Hurkacz leads the pack and is joined by reigning champion Egor Gerasimov. And in Gimcheon, Korea, Mackenzie McDonald looks to go back-to-back.