<p class="title">Rafael Nadal heads into the final fortnight of the countdown to the French Open facing uncertainty after crashing out in his bid for a sixth title at the Madrid Open.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Spain's formerly invincible king of clay - who in most years would have at least one dirt title to hand upon arrival at Roland Garros - will have a last chance in Rome to pick up a trophy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">His mission at the Foro Italico from Monday will be to try and rescue his form prior to the start of the Grand Slam where he dreams of collecting a record 12th title.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Nadal went down in the Madrid semifinals to young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, with the ninth-ranked "El Greco" exposing some of the emerging fault lines in the game of the 17-time Grand Slam champion.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Not winning here means that I'm not going back to my hotel happy," said Nadal, who also made semifinals in Monte Carlo and Barcelona.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"But I think I still have tennis ahead of me."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Nadal said his longer term focus was on Roland Garros, confident that an improvement would see him contesting titles later in the season.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"In Paris, I have 11 titles. Each week that I play in this tournament is a lot of memories, a lot of unforgettable memories," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"What I have to do is to be fit and to play properly and have a high tennis level.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"If I manage to do that ... I think I will still have a very good opportunity to fight for titles for the rest of the year."</p>.<p class="bodytext">After starting slowly on clay last month after another knee injury pause, Nadal is hopeful of quick progress.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I've done a few steps forward, maybe not enough, but I have improved some things. We'll see (for how long) I can (continue to) play at a high level - and I think I will be able to continue.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"If I'm not able to do these things (play) properly, that is the end of the situation, period.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is a sport and in a sport it's a matter of winning and sometimes losing and accepting both as naturally as possible."</p>.<p class="bodytext">As in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Nadal will be defending a title in Rome after beating Alexander Zverev in the 2018 title showdown.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The second seed behind Novak Djokovic opens in the second round against one of two Frenchmen, Richard Gasquet or Jeremy Chardy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I've played just three tournaments on clay this year," Nadal said. "It's not much.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I play when I want to play and I play where I want to play.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I just play for my happiness and I play when I really want to play. That's all."</p>
<p class="title">Rafael Nadal heads into the final fortnight of the countdown to the French Open facing uncertainty after crashing out in his bid for a sixth title at the Madrid Open.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Spain's formerly invincible king of clay - who in most years would have at least one dirt title to hand upon arrival at Roland Garros - will have a last chance in Rome to pick up a trophy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">His mission at the Foro Italico from Monday will be to try and rescue his form prior to the start of the Grand Slam where he dreams of collecting a record 12th title.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Nadal went down in the Madrid semifinals to young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, with the ninth-ranked "El Greco" exposing some of the emerging fault lines in the game of the 17-time Grand Slam champion.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Not winning here means that I'm not going back to my hotel happy," said Nadal, who also made semifinals in Monte Carlo and Barcelona.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"But I think I still have tennis ahead of me."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Nadal said his longer term focus was on Roland Garros, confident that an improvement would see him contesting titles later in the season.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"In Paris, I have 11 titles. Each week that I play in this tournament is a lot of memories, a lot of unforgettable memories," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"What I have to do is to be fit and to play properly and have a high tennis level.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"If I manage to do that ... I think I will still have a very good opportunity to fight for titles for the rest of the year."</p>.<p class="bodytext">After starting slowly on clay last month after another knee injury pause, Nadal is hopeful of quick progress.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I've done a few steps forward, maybe not enough, but I have improved some things. We'll see (for how long) I can (continue to) play at a high level - and I think I will be able to continue.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"If I'm not able to do these things (play) properly, that is the end of the situation, period.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is a sport and in a sport it's a matter of winning and sometimes losing and accepting both as naturally as possible."</p>.<p class="bodytext">As in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Nadal will be defending a title in Rome after beating Alexander Zverev in the 2018 title showdown.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The second seed behind Novak Djokovic opens in the second round against one of two Frenchmen, Richard Gasquet or Jeremy Chardy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I've played just three tournaments on clay this year," Nadal said. "It's not much.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I play when I want to play and I play where I want to play.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I just play for my happiness and I play when I really want to play. That's all."</p>