Nadal Faces Tough Hurdle In French Open

Rafa Nadal’s Roland Garros return is to start with a major hurdle for the Spaniard after Thursday’s first round draw pitted the 14-time tournament champion against No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev in the first round.

This is expected to be Nadal’s last appearance at Roland Garros, and he had been coy about whether he would compete after two seasons of off-and-on action because of injuries, including a surgically repaired hip that forced him to miss his favorite tournament a year ago.

After a loss at the Italian Open this month, Nadal said he needed to think about whether to play in Paris. But he has been practicing on the red clay at Roland Garros this week, and his name was officially in the bracket.
Despite all the success Nadal has enjoyed at the event — his career record there is 112-3 — the French tennis federation decided not to go against its usual rules that follow the ATP and WTA rankings to determine seedings. The 22-time major champion’s inactivity-affected ranking is No. 276.

His matchup against No. 4-ranked Zverev is a rematch of their 2022 semifinal that ended when Zverev tore ligaments in his right ankle.

“It’s coming a little early in the tournament surely,” French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said of the Nadal-Zverev pairing. “This is good news for neither of them.”
Nadal is 7-3 in head-to-head matchups with Zverev and has won five of their six meetings on clay, losing only in the 2021 Madrid quarterfinals.

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Zverev has drawn attention lately for a serious matter away from tennis: A court proceeding is scheduled to begin next week in Germany related to accusations of physical abuse made by an ex-girlfriend of his. Zverev does not need to attend and has said he won’t.

In other notable men’s matchups, No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic will begin his title defense against France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert, and Andy Murray’s likely final French Open will start against Stan Wawrinka in the first round. Carlos Alcaraz will begin against a qualifier, and newly crowned Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner will first face American Christopher Eubanks.