Thursday, May 23, 2024, 2:53 p.m. | Updated 3:05 p.m.
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When the automatic draw system put Rafa Nadal’s name at number 33 in the draw, there were only two possibilities for the Spaniard: face Carlos Alcaraz or Alexander Zverev. The very tough draw, one of the worst possible for Nadal, determined that he will face the German, a player who has been launched after winning the 1,000 Masters in Rome last week.
Nadal’s protected ranking, which is a weighted average of his classification before the injury that kept him sidelined for a year, allows him to access these tournaments without going through the previous phase, but condemns him to not having seed status. which caused him to fall with any tennis player in the draw.
And in this context, by ranking, he was the fourth most difficult, after Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. In the moments that passed between when Nadal’s name and Zverev’s name came out, there was tension as Alcaraz and Nadal faced each other in the first round of Roland Garros, but the number that came out was that of Zverev, a tennis player who also He will have to face trial in the coming weeks for mistreatment of his ex-girlfriend. The German tennis player was sentenced to pay more than 400,000 euros last year, but he appealed and the trial, which he will attend remotely, will begin during the Roland Garros dispute.
For Nadal, this debut means a repeat of the 2022 semifinals, when the German retired at the end of the second set due to a fall in which he broke his ankle. Nadal, who ended up winning that tournament, has not played at Roland Garros since then and this edition is the one that generates the most doubts in him.
At 38 years old, the Manacor native has had an irregular preparation until now, with the second round at the Conde de Godó, the round of 16 in Madrid and the second round, with a tough defeat included against Hubert Hurkacz, in Rome.
The 14-time winner of the tournament has been training since Monday in Paris for what could be his farewell to the most special place of his sporting career, where he has cemented his history as the best player on the surface and one of the greatest in history.
Carlos Alcaraz had a much more favorable draw and will face a player from the previous phase. Furthermore, the Murcian, who trained this Wednesday for the first time at Roland Garros, avoids Djokovic until a possible final and his rival in a hypothetical semifinals would be Sinner, who arrives with physical problems after a hip injury that prevented him from playing. in Rome.
Bautista-Munar, fratricidal duel
As for the rest of the Spaniards, Alejandro Davidovich will play against a tennis player from the previous round, Pablo Carreño, who returns many months later to compete, will debut against Mariano Navone, Pedro Martínez, against Thiago Tirante, Roberto Carballés, against Constant Lestienne, and Jaume Munar and Roberto Bautista will star in a fratricidal duel.
In the women’s team, there was little luck for the Spanish participants. In addition to Jessica Bouzas and Cristina Bucsa, who will play against tennis players from the qualifying phase, such as the talented Irene Burillo, Rebeka Masarova will play the Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, Sara Sorribes, the 2019 winner of the US Open Bian Andreescu, who, however, has not competed since August, and Paula Badosa, the British Katie Boulter.
Iga Swiatek, defending champion and absolute dominator of the surface with recent titles in Madrid and Rome, will debut against a player from the qualifier, but in the second round she could face Naomi Osaka, four-time Grand Slam winner, in case of that the Japanese defeated the Italian Bronzetti in her first match.
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2024-05-23 13:05:07
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