Andy Murray bemoaned a failure to take his chances, but said his clay season is "going in the right direction" following the failure of his latest bid for a maiden title on his least favoured surface.
Murray lost 7-6, 6-4 to sixth seed Tomas Berdych in the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Friday night, but will at least have the consolation of climbing back above Roger Federer to No 2 in the world when the rankings are updated tomorrow.
Federer's third-round defeat by Kei Nishikori means the Swiss failed to defend the points he racked up by winning the Madrid title last year, and Murray will regain the No 2 spot he held for three weeks last month.
The Scot refused to be too downhearted, with this week's Masters event in Rome next on the agenda as he continues his build-up to the French Open which starts in Paris on May 26.
"I need to do a better job of taking my chances," Murray said after the Berdych defeat. "I didn't convert too many opportunities the whole week really. I managed to dig out the last couple of the matches and obviously wasn't able to do that against Tomas."
Murray said he was more satisfied with his performance in the Spanish capital than his efforts at the Monte Carlo Masters last month when he lost to Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round.
"This week was better than Monte Carlo so it's going in the right direction," he said. "Tomas is a very good clay-court player. And, yeah, it was a close match. I had my chances.
"I think I'm playing OK. Some things I would like to do better, but I did play very well in practice in the build-up to this tournament.
"I played a lot of sets with a lot of tough players and I played very well. So that's a good sign. In Rome, the next couple of days I'll get a better feel for how I'm playing."
Rafa Nadal is one win away from a fifth title since returning from injury after he thumped his compatriot Pablo Andujar 6-0, 6-4 to reach today's final in Madrid.
With his customary strapping on the troublesome left knee that sidelined him for seven months, home favourite Nadal was in scintillating form as he raced through the first set.
Andujar, a tournament wildcard ranked 113 in the world, put up more of a fight in the second, but Nadal secured a fourth break in the ninth game and served out to move a step closer to winning the tournament for a third time.
"The results could not have been better," Nadal said. "Five months ago I could not have dreamed of everything that has happened during these past few months. It's almost a dream to be back in another final at home here in Madrid."
Nadal will play Wawrinka today, after the 15th seed overcame Berdych 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
In the women's event, world No 1 Serena Williams swept past Sara Errani to set up a final against the No 2-ranked Maria Sharapova. Chasing a 50th career title, defending champion Williams was far too strong for Italian seventh seed Errani on the Manolo Santana show court, winning 7-5, 6-2.
Sharapova then made short work of 16th seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia to win their semi-final 6-4, 6-3.
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