Nadal: Murray has potential to be number one

World number one Rafael Nadal believes Andy Murray will be “very difficult to stop” if he succeeds in getting his claycourt game up to the level he desires.

Murray, who later today plays Tommy Robredo in the third round of the Madrid Open, this week climbed into the world’s top three – a feat based largely on his performances on hard courts, where he has won all 11 of his titles to date.

On dirt, Murray has been less effective, despite receiving his tennis education on the clay courts of Spain, but the British number one has spoken of his determination to improve that area of his game.

And for Nadal, that could spell bad news for the other players, with the game’s leading player saying today: “Sure he (Murray) can improve more on clay, and if he improves and plays a very good level on clay it’s going to be very difficult to stop him because on the rest of the surfaces he is very good.”

Murray has already started to show improvement on clay this year, reaching the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters before losing to eventual winner Nadal - the undisputed king of red courts.

That display, combined with the titles he won in Doha, Rotterdam and Miami, has helped Murray become the first British player to enter the top three of the ATP world rankings, climbing above Novak Djokovic.

Only Nadal and number two Roger Federer remain above Murray now, and at just 21, Nadal believes the Scot has got plenty of time to push his case for top spot.

“He’s doing really well and has the potential to be number one, and win important titles, which he’s already done,” said Nadal.

“But I’m not thinking about Andy Murray, I’m thinking about me and playing my best tennis and if he’s better than me at the end of the season then I will congratulate him, and if I’m number three then I will be happy to be there because I will have tried my best.

“Andy is one year younger than me so he has a long time to win a lot of titles and to be number one.”

Murray has already gone one step further at this week’s Madrid Open than in his last performance on clay, when he lost to Juan Monaco in the second round of the Rome Masters a fortnight ago.

But the champion faces a tough task to get into the quarter-finals as he next faces 16th seed Robredo.

The 27-year-old Spaniard has 21 victories on clay this season, compared to just four for Murray – which includes Tuesday’s 7-6 (11/9) 6-4 victory over Italian Simone Bolelli.

“He is one of the top-10 clay court players for sure,” said Murray.

“He won a couple of tournaments on clay in South America and he is playing at home, so he’s going to have good support.

“It’ll be a very good test for me but hopefully I can play like I did (against Bolelli) and give myself a good chance.”

Robredo has won two of his three meetings with Murray down the years, although the pair have yet to clash on clay.