Rafael Nadal lost his No. 2 position in the ATP Rankings to Roger Federer this week. The feisty Spaniard had to swallow a bitter defeat last week at Madrid Masters – as blue clay did not allow him to settle down. All said and done – now its redemption time for Nadal and he has it all to do what he has been doing over the years – to hit back hard. There wouldn’t be any last week’s blues for Nadal this time – as Rome has the usual red-clay, which suits him the most. Nadal will take on German Florian Mayer on Wednesday to secure his berth in the last sixteen of the 2012 ATP Rome Masters.

Not looking near to his very best – Nadal still has an impressive 28-4 win-loss record for the season so far with two titles in his kitty, which he won in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. Nadal is gunning for his 49th career title. Nadal is not much worried about the rankings at the moment. While interacting with press, Nadal said, "Being No 2 or No 3 isn't going to change my goal. My goal will be the same whether I am No 2, No 3 or No 10.” He further added that "I don't think about Madrid. I accept that I played badly there and lost because I didn't play the level that I needed to win. I arrive in Rome and it's a tournament that I love. I've always had fantastic feelings from the crowd. It's always big emotions to come back to this fantastic place."

Nadal’s opponent is 28 years old Florian Mayer, who is gunning for his second career title on ATP World Tour. The German has a poor 4-11 win-loss record for the season. But, he can take a lot of heart from the fact that he leads the head-to-head against Nadal with 1-0. Their only meeting came in Shanghai Masters last year, where the German topped Nadal in straight sets.

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