Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 21 May 2007 /

Punters who have backed Rafael Nadal to make it a hat-trick of French Open titles have been buoyed by the news that the Spanish ace insists his game is in great shape and his confidence remains undiminished despite seeing his winning streak on clay come to an end on Sunday.

The 20-year-old cruised through the opening set against Roger Federer but was blown away in the next two in the final in Hamburg to lose 6-2 2-6 0-6.

Although the Swiss maestro has finally ended his barren run on clay against Nadal, punters should be aware that the athletic left-hander still holds a 7-4 head-to-head record on all surfaces.

The Mallorca-born ace has moved to reassure his supporters ahead of next week's French Open and insists his confidence remains intact.

"My confidence is at 100 per cent going into the French Open, I've played a lot of finals over the past months and I am back playing better tennis than ever," Nadal said.

"I can't be sad about losing one match against the best player in the world."

The world number two also revealed that his run in Hamburg has actually helped him going into the year's second Grand Slam tournament and claims he is in the best shape of his life.

Nadal added: "For the last two years I came to Roland Garros playing really badly. It is hard to go into a big tournament when you haven't played for two weeks and that is what I did after missing Hamburg.

"I am a much better player than I was two years ago and last year I wasn't in good shape. Now I am very happy with my game."

The 'King of Clay' still remains a strong favourite to win in Paris and has been supported in to 1.75, having recently drifted out to around 2.

By contrast, having been matched recently at 3, punters appear to have lost a little faith in Federer as he is now available at 3.45.

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