Novak Djokovic closed in on world number one Rafael Nadal in the ATP rankings on Monday after beating the Spaniard for the Madrid Masters title the previous day.
Djokovic, at 32-0 for the year after his win Sunday, has less points defend over the next week as Nadal, who comes as the title holder to Rome, the French Open and Wimbledon.
Nadal tops the list with 12,470 points while Serbia's Djokovic has 10,665. Former number one Roger Federer of Switzerland remains third on 8,900 points.
"My number one ranking is in danger. This is a reality. But it would not be the end of the world," said Nadal on Sunday.
ATP top 10 as of May 9 (previous ranking in parenthesis): <#> 1. (1) Rafael Nadal, Spain, 12,470 points 2. (2) Novak Djokovic, Serbia, 10,665 3. (3) Roger Federer, Switzerland, 8,900 4. (4) Andy Murray, Britain, 5,905 5. (5) Robin Soderling, Sweden, 5,265 6. (6) David Ferrer, Spain, 4,420 7. (7) Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic, 4,035 8. (8) Juergen Melzer, Austria, 3,020 9. (10) Gael Monfils, France, 2,645 10. (9) Nicolas Almagro, Spain, 2,495 <#>
The Premier League trophy was not even in the cabinet when Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson switched his attention to picking a team to beat Barcelona to add the European Cup to his haul.
United face Barcelona on Saturday in the Champions League final and Ferguson was already pondering his lineup for the huge task of beating the hot favourites while the fireworks were still going off to celebrate domestic success on Sunday.
"I think I could pick four or five teams for next week and they wouldn't let us down," he told MUTV.
Ferguson has attributed this season's success to using the full potential of a strong squad, highlighted by a procession of 21 players being presented with Premier League winners' medals, all eligible as they had made 10 appearances or more.
It gives him plenty of options to choose from next weekend -- a clear sign that the lines between fringe player and starter are not as clear as usual -- but the reality is that only the best will do.
Asked if he had finalised his starting XI, Ferguson said: "Not entirely but we've got the nucleus who deserve their place and there are others who deserve a place.
"But I can only pick 11 and that's the horrible part of being a manager now. At a cup final, it's absolute agony and something you don't relish at all but I have to do it."
With Ferguson keen to avoid the mistakes that led to defeat by the Spaniards in the 2009 final, when he rested many of his first-choice players for an end-of-season league game against Hull City only for them to then lose 2-0 to Barca, he played a stronger-than-expected side for Sunday's last domestic game at home to Blackpool that ended with a 4-2 victory.
Having already wrapped up the title, United had been expected by many pundits to field a second-string side but instead big game players like Nemanja Vidic, Edwin van der Sar, Park Ji-sung and Nani were among the starters.
There were of course notable players like Rio Ferdinand, Antonio Valencia, Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs either on the bench or rested altogether but there were certainly more possible Wembley starters involved than many had predicted.
"I have to pick a team and leave some very good players out," Ferguson said.
"Hopefully, those who have all played a part in the European campaign this season will feel satisfaction at the end of the night at Wembley and we'll win the cup."
Barcelona won their third consecutive La Liga title on Wednesday, making it a hat-trick of league crowns for coach Pep Guardiola in his first three seasons in charge.
Following is an analysis with five main reasons for their success.
CLOCKWORK CONSISTENCY
Barcelona's well-oiled machine, built around the midfield trio of Spanish internationals Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, has continued its unrivalled domination of possession, frustrating rivals forced to chase the ball for long periods.
The club set a La Liga record of 16 successive wins in February and have only been knocked off their stride twice.
Promoted Hercules stunned the champions 2-0 in their first home game, while between the first and second legs of the Champions League semi-final, they went down 2-1 at Real Sociedad, ending a record 23-match unbeaten run away from home.
With five 1-1 draws, against Real Mallorca, Sporting Gijon, Sevilla, Real Madrid and Levante, Barca have only dropped 16 points all season while racking up 29 victories.
GUARDED GUARDIOLA
Pep Guardiola's outstanding achievement has been to maintain the hunger for success in a squad that has already won every available trophy.
His decision to off-load striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in favour of Spain's David Villa has been vindicated and it led to a tighter squad unit without any of the controversy that dogged last season.
He conducted the campaign with a first-team squad of only 18 outfield players, adding Ibrahim Afellay in January, exploiting the versatility of players such as Javier Mascherano and Sergio Busquets to cover at centre-back after Eric Abidal's surgery on a liver tumour.
The former Barca midfielder refused to rise to Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho's constant sniping, until his uncharacteristic outburst on the eve of the Champions League semi-final when the bad blood between the clubs boiled over.
MESSI'S GOALS
The World Player of the Year has scored 31 league goals, and 52 in all competitions this season.
The tirelessly enthusiastic 23-year-old has avoided any serious injuries and once again has shown an unerring ability to score important goals. The team's domination of possession combined with Messi's more central role means he sees plenty of the ball and he has also weighed in with 19 assists, more than any other player in La Liga.
The main beneficiaries have been his strike partners Villa and Pedro, who have scored 18 and 13 respectively.
Messi's inability to exercise the same influence for Argentina speaks volumes for the way his Barca team mates play to his strengths.
SOLID DEFENCE
Barca only conceded more than once in a game in their two defeats and opponents have managed 20 goals against them in 36 games.
Spain goalkeeper Victor Valdes is virtually assured of a third consecutive award for having conceded the fewest goals in La Liga, and has once again shown that a Barca number one has to be as good with his feet as his hands.
Spain centre back Gerard Pique has grown in stature, especially in the lengthy absence through injury of captain Carles Puyol. He epitomises the "build-from-the-back" playing style of the team.
Makeshift centre backs Busquets and Mascherano rose to the task while the irrepressible Dani Alves has provided bite and attacking thrust. The Brazilian right back has the league's second highest number of goal assists with 14.
THE CLASICOS
Barca's 5-0 thrashing of Real Madrid in November was perhaps their outstanding performance of the season and gave them an unassailable advantage in the head-to-head record between the sides.
A 1-1 league draw at the Bernabeu, in the first of the four-match series in three competitions in 18 days played out over the last month, was the first time Guardiola had failed to win against Barca's arch-rivals.
Barca's dominance over the only side able to compete with them in financial terms is reflected in their impressive "Clasico" record in Guardiola's three years as coach -- six wins, two draws and one defeat across three competitions.
Barcelona need just one more point to clinch their third straight Spanish league title after a 2-0 Catalan derby defeat of Espanyol on Sunday.
Spain World Cup heroes Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique scored for Barca, who are eight points ahead of Real Madrid with just three matches left.
On Saturday, Real enjoyed a 6-2 romp away to Sevilla, with league top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo banging in four goals.
Before the Catalan derby there was an emotional minute's silence for golf legend Severiano Ballesteros, a keen Barca fan, who died on Saturday, aged 54.
Iniesta put Barca ahead in the 29th minute by taking advantage of a mistake from Javi Lopez, and then beating Carlos Kameni with a low near-post dive.
David Villa, in poor form, should have extended Barca's lead on three occasions but missed each time.
Three minutes into the second half Pique made it 2-0 by heading in a Xavi centre from the left, after getting in front of defender Raul Rodriguez.
Barca never allowed Espanyol to come out of their defensive shell, enjoying their usual 75-per-cent possession, and could have scored more goals at the end.
The defeat leaves Espanyol in eighth place, with their dreams of snatching a Europa League berth in tatters.
Sunday's late game was due to bring together relegation strugglers Zaragoza and Osasuna.
Sunday's lunchtime match was a colourless 0-0 draw between midtable Mallorca and fourth-placed Villarreal, which leaves the yellows five points behind Valencia in the battle for third place and direct entry to the Champions League.
* AC Milan's Brazil striker Alexandre Pato could return from a three-week layoff with a thigh injury for the trip to AS Roma on Saturday (1845 GMT), where a point will clinch the Serie A title.
Milan said Pato had returned to training along with midfielder Gennaro Gattuso. Forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic is also back from a ban.
* Roma, a point behind fourth-placed Lazio in the Champions League qualifying round spot, have midfielders Daniele De Rossi and Simone Perrotta suspended so Simplicio and Matteo Brighi are expected to come in.
* Second-placed Inter Milan host Fiorentina on Sunday (1300) having already given up on the scudetto after five straight years of title success.
"We absolutely shouldn't write off this season. We are world champions and we added the Italian Super Cup. Now we are targeting the Italian Cup," captain Javier Zanetti told reporters.
* Udinese, pushing for the Champions League qualifying spot with Lazio, have forward Alexis Sanchez back from injury and the Chilean is set to revive his explosive partnership with Antonio Di Natale for Sunday's clash at home to the Romans (1300).
* Lazio have Brazilian midfielder Matuzalem fit after a knee injury but Giuseppe Sculli remains a doubt.
* Second-bottom Brescia could be relegated this weekend if they fail to win at home to Catania on Sunday (1300).
Former cycling world champion Alessandro Ballan has been suspended by the BMC team over ongoing doping investigations and will not ride in the upcoming Giro d'Italia.
BMC said in a statement issued later Monday that the 2008 road race world champion Ballan and fellow-Italian Mauro Santambrogio are out the Italian race which starts on Saturday.
BMC said "the two will be held out of competition pending further details."
Ballan and Santambrogio are under investigation on suspicion of being part of a doping operation based in Mantova before they joined the BMC team. Ballan came to BMC from Lampre last year.
The Gazzetto della Sport paper said Tuesday that Ballan is suspected of having used the blood booster EPO and Human Growth Hormone in 2009. There are reportedly also taped telephone conversations between Ballan and a pharmacist in Mantova who is believed to be at the centre of the doping scheme.
