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Swiatek 'roots for Rafa' but says right Nadal not seeded at French Open
© afp.com/Tiziana FABI

Swiatek 'roots for Rafa' but says right Nadal not seeded at French Open

Published by , Friday 05/24/24 15:32

World number one Iga Swiatek said she'll be "rooting" for Rafael Nadal at the French Open but insisted it was fair the 14-time champion had not been seeded.

Nadal, ranked a lowly 276 in the world after injury restricted him to just four tournaments since January last year, will face world number four Alexander Zverev in the first round of his farewell appearance.

With an astonishing record of just three losses in 115 matches at Roland Garros since his 2005 debut, there were suggestions that officials should have the discretion to seed former champions.

"No, I think it would create a huge mess in the draws," said defending women's champion Swiatek.

"For example, in the women's draw you have so many past Grand Slam champions, one of them would be seeded, one of them not because they won Wimbledon and not Roland Garros or they won Australian Open, not Roland Garros.

"I don't think it's a good idea. It's better to keep it that way, especially because you get seeded because of your past results. By 'past' I mean few months before."

Nadal is not the only unseeded Grand Slam champion at the French Open this year.

Stan Wawrinka, whose 2015 Paris title is one of his three majors, faces fellow three-time Grand Slam champion -- and also unseeded -- Andy Murray in the first round.

In the women's tournament, former Grand Slam champions Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber, Sofia Kenin, Bianca Andreescu and Sloane Stephens are also unseeded.

There have, however, been precedents -- in 2018, Serena Williams was seeded at 25 for Wimbledon, where she was a seven-time champion, despite a world ranking of 183.

"For sure it's a tough draw for Rafa, but I'm going to be kind of rooting for him," added Swiatek. "Sorry, Alex. We'll see."

Source: AFP

Latest comments comments
Change is always good.
B Ravi kumar B Ravi kumar il y a 4 heures
Everyone will have there GOAT. Mine will always be Nadal. So glad I had the opportunity to watch him for almost his entire career
sdholly5 sdholly5 il y a 6 heures
Someone needs reading lessons
bigman27 bigman27 il y a 12 heures
Congratulation Emma I want you back to top 10 I always love you
Magdywhitecat Magdywhitecat il y a 15 heures
I had a small miniscus tear operated on and was allowed back in the gym and rnning 4 days later so long as I promised to take anti inflammatories and ice heavily afterwards. Back to playing basketball and tennis in two weeks. So it depends on the nature of the injury and surgery.
SH321 SH321 il y a 17 heures
It's the most wonderful tiiiime of the yeaaaar....
cyberpixie cyberpixie il y a 1 jour
Top des commentaires comments
Nicely played Thiago 👏👌
1 thumb_up
Aladdin Sane Aladdin Sane
LET'S FUCKING GO EMIL! WELCOME BACK TO THE THRONE!! And don't listen to Aladdin..
1 thumb_up
Ossian S. Ossian S.
Everyone will have there GOAT. Mine will always be Nadal. So glad I had the opportunity to watch him for almost his entire career
1 thumb_up
sdholly5 sdholly5
The person who write this article is completely incorrect, or simply ignorant to write the statement "Jannik Sinner is all about himself". Is the writer for real? Jannik is the most decent, humble and
1 thumb_up
Bobo Bobo
Congrats & well played Paul 🇬🇧👏👌
1 thumb_up
Aladdin Sane Aladdin Sane