DS Talk » Mercedes has over its rivals.I dont know how far I

Andy Murray won the Madrid Open last year but must fight his way through the worlds best players to defend his crown. Sky Live: Madrid Open Were live all week on Sky Sports Murray defeated clay court king Rafael Nadal 12 months ago to lift the Madrid title, a prize he first collected eight years ago to stake his claim as a talent worth keeping an eye on.Sky Sports have tried to plot Murrays route to this years final... Radek Stepanek - round of 32 Radek Stepanek has the first crack at Murray The Czech defeated Vasek Pospisil for the right to play Murray, and interestingly owns a victory in their recent match. That was two years ago at Queens, but Murray has an overall 5-2 winning record against the 37-year-old.Traditionally, Murray doesnt adapt to the clay season particularly quickly so Stepaneks best chances of a shock result could lay with the Brits rusty habits.Gilles Simon - last 16 Gilles Simon strikes a smash The Frenchman must first steer himself beyond Marcos Baghdatis then, in all likelihood, the unseeded Grigor Dimitrov to book a tie against Murray.Simon is the 16th seed in Madrid but also has a very poor head-to-head record against the Dunblane man. Murray has won 13 of their 15 matches - Simon won their very first meeting 11 years ago but also won in Rotterdam last year.Murray has won all four of their meetings at the Madrid Open and has also notched up clay court wins in Hamburg and Monte Carlo against this possible opponent.Tomas Berdych - quarter-final Kim Sears explicit language intensified the Murray-Berdych rivalry The Czech player is a long-time rival and an ominous potential opponent should both men secure quarter-final spots.Personal animosity stems from Berdychs use of Dani Vallverdu, who previously worked with Murray, as his coach. Murrays future wife Kim Sears became embroiled last year after swearing during a previous match between the pair.The world No 8 Berdych is on the wrong end of a 6-7 record against Murray, which is a very respectable tally considering one of his wins was during the 2013 Madrid Open. In total, three of Berdychs wins have been on clay. Expect more fireworks if both players advance this far.Rafa Nadal - semi-final Rafa Nadal has won eight of nine clay court games against Murray The greatest ever clay court players hopes of making the semi-final will have been boosted by Roger Federers late withdrawal - they were due to collide at the quarter-final stage.The path has become clearer for Nadal to force a rematch against Murray of last years final. The Spaniard holds a remarkable record against the Brit given the struggles with injury he has suffered in recent years - Nadal has won 17 and lost just six, and has won four of the last five.Murray may have beaten the clay king on his own patch last year, but Nadal has won their other nine meetings on the red dirt. Novak Djokovic - final Novak Djokovic has won his last five against Murray Intriguingly, the Djokovic-Murray wrote its first ever chapter at the 2006 Madrid Open before either man had reached the pinnacle of the sport that they now dominate.A decade ago, the mighty Serb won the last-16 clash and has won all three of their clay court match since - a worrying trend which Murray must try to buck in 2016.Djokovic, before entertaining the thought of this game, must negotiate a kind route into the semi-finals where No 7 seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the most daunting test.Assuming Djokovic reaches the last match as expected, the world No 1 will aim for a fourth consecutive victory against Murray - he has won 11 of their last 12 matches dating back to the Brits famous 2012 Wimbledon triumph.Watch the Madrid Open on Sky Sports until the final on Sunday May 8. Also See: ATP schedule Sky Live Latest scores Get a NOW TV pass Video Michael Porter Nuggets Jersey . 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Dikembe Mutombo Nuggets Jersey . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium -- Lewis Hamilton is set for a difficult fight through the field at Sundays Belgian Grand Prix after Mercedes confirmed he would take a grid penalty for using new power unit components.Under Formula Ones regulations, drivers are allowed to use no more than five of certain power unit components, with additional ones resulting in grid penalties. Following a series of technical problems at the opening rounds of the season, Hamilton has used five turbochargers and MGU-Hs this year, meaning the sixth will see him move down the grid from wherever he qualifies.Although the team will not make a final decision on how many new components to take until after Friday practice, a spokesperson said it is safe to assume he will be starting towards the back of the grid.As far as I am aware, we will be taking a penalty this weekend, yes, Hamilton said. In terms of winning, thats the goal, but obviously its going to be very hard if the gap has closed between other cars in the third evolution of these cars.Red Bull has been very quick in some of the races and the same with Ferrari particularly, and down the whole grid. So it is going to be hard -- or harder -- than it was in previous years to climb through the field, for sure. Ill do what I can and really its about minimising the damage of taking the penalty.The size of the penalty will depend on how many new components Mercedes decides to take. If it simply takes the sixth turbo and sixth MGU-H it will result in a 15-place penalty (10 places for the first sixth component he uses and an extra five for each additional sixth component). However, Mercedes may choose to stock up on components for later in the year by taking two new sets of all components (for example), which would result in Hamilton starting from the very backk of the grid (assuming other drivers are not also impacted by grid penalties).ddddddddddddhe last time Hamilton started from last place was in China and he was able to fight back through the field to seventh despite damaging his front wing in the first corner. Asked how far he thought he could get up the field, he said it would depend on how big an advantage Mercedes has over its rivals.I dont know how far I can get up and it depends on the pace of the car, he said. So well start tomorrow and find out if Red Bull are right close with us, thatll be two cars less [I can overtake] and three [places] down and then the gap will follow behind. If the others are much, much slower the possibilities go up, but there could be safety cars and all sorts of things.I started last in Hungary a couple of years ago when the gaps [between teams] were much bigger and I came fourth, so Sunday is definitely going to be harder than that. I just hope I can get into the points, as long as Im going forwards thats what matters.Asked if he felt the team had let him down with the reliability issues earlier in the year, Hamilton added: Its a team sport and win and lose together as a team. Whether I make a mistake and the team take the penalty for it or the team makes a mistake -- sometimes its not actually a mistake, its just that kind of thing that happens -- I dont look at it as incompetence.Its a growing experience for us because we have learned a lot from the issues that have happened, and hopefully we wont have those issues again. I guess Im the test mouse that has tested all of these issues, because obviously none of the other Mercedes engines has had the problems Ive had. ' ' '