Nadal looking at eighth Italian Open ahead of French Open
Rafael Nadal has already put his Madrid Masters defeat behind him, as he targets an eighth Italian Open title in Rome before his French Open title defence.
The Spaniard suffered his first clay-court defeat in almost a year in a 7-5, 6-3 loss to Austria's Dominic Thiem in the Madrid Masters quarter-finals. Thiem lost to Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-4 in the final.
The defeat means Nadal - who came into the event having won both Monte Carlo and Barcelona for an 11th time - will lose his world No. 1 ranking to Roger Federer.
"I repeat the same always. When I win, I don't talk much when I'm in the next events about the previous weeks," Nadal, who has a first-round bye, said ahead of the Italian Open. "Okay, what happened last week was - forget it. And that's it.
"I should have been playing better than I did. I know what I did wrong, and I'm gonna try to change that for this week.
"I'm very happy about my comeback after the (leg) injury. And winning two tournaments, now quarter-finals and here is another opportunity to play well. So that's what I'm looking for."
Nadal defeated Stan Wawrinka in straight sets last year to win the French Open for a record 10th time.
Nadal insisted that his Madrid defeat would have no impact on how he plays at Roland Garros.
"Every tournament is very important for itself. And for me, even more. Because I have a great story on all these events. I won here seven times.
"And, for me, it's very special always to play here in this tournament.
"So, I can win Roland Garros losing here, and I can win Roland Garros winning here." - AFP
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