Andy Murray has been placed in Rafa Nadals half of the draw for the Madrid Open, with the Spaniard keen to continue his superb return to form. Defending champion Murray comes to Madrid of the back of a much improved showing in Monte Carlo where he reached the semi-final, only to run into a Nadal beginning to show signs that he is back to his very best. Sky Live: Madrid Masters How to follow the Madrid Masters on Sky Sports Murray beat Nadal to win in Madrid last year while Nadal saw off Murray in three sets on his way to the title in the principality before going on to win in Barcelona and a victory in Madrid this week would set him up perfectly for a run at the French Open later this month where he is aiming to win an unprecedented 10th title at Roland Garros. Murray and Nadal are joined by Roger Federer and world No 1 Novak Djokovic in an A-list cast in Madrid and after a couple of years on inconsistency it is the Spaniard who arrives as the form player. Rafa Nadal beat Andy Murray in Monte Carlo Ive been playing well for a while, Nadal said at a promotional event this week. But you need the results to come along with that.Murrays win in Madrid last year gave him his first ever Masters title on clay and the world No 2 practiced with Nadal at the Spaniards tennis academy in Manacor in the lead up to the tournament. Andy Murray claimed his first clay court Masters with vcitory in Madrid last year And Murray, whose season has been disjointed after some time off following the birth of his first child, is well aware of Nadals capabilities Every player goes through periods where they dont necessarily play as well as they have done previously, Murray said.Rafa is still one of the best players on the surface and he still works as hard as he can on and off the court. I am sure he has gone away and worked at things since last year, so its hard to say if hell ever be back up to where he was, I guess we will have to wait and see. Watch highlights as Andy Murray mastered Rafa Nadal in Madrid last year In terms of the defence of his title Murray admits last year he was in top condition before claiming a memorable success over the home favourite.My preparation last year was probably the best its ever been for the clay, said the the Scot.I prepared for the event more thoroughly than I had done in previous years. When you have done everything you can do to ensure that youre ready for the surface, it gives you confidence. Roger Federer has added the Madrid Open to his schedule Federer, a winner in Madrid in 2012, added Madrid to his schedule in the last week as he steps up prepertions for the French Open and he is in the same half of the draw as Murray and Nadal - if the draw pans out he could play the Spaniard in the quarter finals.The Swiss while play either Nicholas Mahut or Joao Sousa, Murray will face either Vasek Pospisil or a qualifier while Nadal faces either Viktor Troicki or Andrey Kuznetsov. Novak Djokovic will be keen to make amends for a shock defeat to Jiri Vesely in his last outing In the other half of the draw, Djokovic will be looking for a third Masters title of the year but after success in Indian Wells and Miami he faces a particularly tricky assignment with clay-court specialist Nicolas Almagro or talented teenager Borna Coric his second round opponent.Djokovics only Madrid title came in 2011 and he will be keen to make amends for a shock second round defeat to Jiri Vesely in Monte Carlo. Masters of their trade Nadal and Djokovic tied on total Masters crowns You can follow all the action on Sky Sports this week with the action getting underway at 11am on Sky Sports 3 on Monday.By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices. 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We should be there.Morris said approximately 35,000 people are expected to attend Fridays program, while Saturdays attendance is predicted to reach 65,000.We could get close to 70,000, Morris said.In 2014,, the last year the event was held at Santa Anita, the Friday program drew 37,205, while the Saturday program drew 61,114.ddddddddddddMorris said late Sunday afternoon that fewer than 200 reserved seats were still available in the tracks grandstand for Saturdays program. He said the suites and restaurants were booked. ' ' '