Wednesday 6 May 2015 09:16, UK
With the French Open just around the corner Andy Murray will step up his clay-court ambitions when he heads to the Mutua Madrid Open this week.
Murray is a former champion in the Spanish capital, winning the title in 2008 when it was played on indoor hard court, and the world No 3 will be chasing his second ATP World Tour clay-court title following his success in Munich.
The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament made a major transition from hard court to clay in 2009 and is now staged at the state of the art Caja Magica - The Magic Box as it heads into its 14th year.
Spaniards have dominated the event since the inaugural edition in 2002, with Juan Carlos Ferrero winning the title in 2003, and then Rafael Nadal taking over and lifting the trophy for a fourth time last year and starts the favourite for a fifth title after reverting back to his old racquet.
With Madrid also comes the celebrities, so watch out for Real Madrid footballers who regularly attend the tournament. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas have all been seen courtside in previous years.
For the first time this season someone other than Novak Djokovic will claim a Masters event as the Serb misses out in Madrid after winning in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo.
Djokovic also claimed the opening Grand Slam of the season in Australia, but has opted for extra rest to aid his bid to land a first French Open title in June.
Big boost
The absence of the world No 1 could prove a big boost for Murray with defending champion Nadal and three-time winner Roger Federer on the opposite side of the draw to him.
Murray, 27, will be confident of improving on his best showing in Madrid since the tournament moved onto clay having not progressed past the quarter-finals in five previous attempts.
After defeating Frenchman Gilles Simon to win the title in 2008, he was beaten by Juan Martin Del Potro at the quarter-final stage the next year on the dirt before losing to David Ferrer in 2010.
Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci caused a shock by beating Murray in straight sets in the last 16 the following year and his hopes were ended by Czech Tomas Berdych in the last eight in 2013.
Last year, Murray was sent packing by Santiago Giraldo from Colombia in the round of 16, although after reaching finals at the Australian Open, Miami and securing his first clay-court success in Munich on Monday, he will be eyeing good progress in Spain.
Reigning French Open champion Nadal will attempt to get his season up and running on home soil following a poor start to the campaign by his standards.
Nadal has won just one tournament this year in Buenos Aires back in February and has only one win against a top 10 opponent in a 19-7 record for the year.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion described his performance as "awful" in crashing out to Fabio Fognini at the Barcelona Open a fortnight ago.
But he recovered from a similarly unsettling start on the clay last season to go onto claim his fourth title in Madrid and then a ninth crown at Roland Garros.
Under pressure
Nadal is also under pressure to do so as he has 1600 rankings points to defend in Madrid and Rome to prevent his seeding for the French Open plummeting.
Nadal admitted that the absence of Djokovic does open up the tournament to those who have pushed the Serb closest in recent months.
"Of course when a player comes from playing and winning everything and doesn't play the tournament there is an opening," he said.
"I think that the players that are playing well, the players that have faced Djokovic a couple of times in semis and quarter-finals now have a big opportunity to win a big tournament now that he's not playing here.
"That doesn't mean you cannot win big tournaments when he is playing."
Meanwhile, Federer returns to action after missing last year's event due to the birth of his second set of twins and heads into the tournament in fine fettle having secured his fourth ATP Tour title of the year in Istanbul on Sunday.
But the biggest threat to the top three seeds could come from last year's finalist Kei Nishikori, who looked in fine form after retaining his title in Barcelona.
Watch all the action from the Madrid Open every day this week, live on Sky Sports 3 from midday