Rafael Nadal has been handed a nightmare first-round match in what is almost certain to be his final French Open appearance before retirement.
The 37-year-old ‘King of Clay’ has been a dominant force at the famous Grand Slam event in Paris for two decades, winning an incredible 14 men’s singles titles.
Nadal, though, is edging towards the end of his career and is widely expected to hang up his racket at some point this year, possibly after the Olympic Games.
As one of the most adored players in tennis history, many Nadal fans were hoping that the Spanish veteran would luck out with a favourable opening match to keep his hopes of a fairytale finish alive for as long as possible.
But the Roland-Garros gods have not been kind – with the draw seeing Nadal face fourth-seed Alexander Zverev in the first round – who just won the Italian Open.
At Thursday’s draw ceremony, shocked gasps could be heard when Zverev was named as Nadal’s opening opponent, one of the toughest names he could get.
Nadal has dropped to 276th in the world after long-term injury problems and heads into Roland-Garros unseeded for the first time.
Elsewhere, British hero Andy Murray, who has also spoken openly about retirement and could call it a day after the Olympics, faces Stan Wawrinka.
Like Nadal, it is likely to be the last time Murray features at the clay-court event, and he is not expected to go far given his game isn’t best suited to the surface.
Murray only recently returned from a horror ankle injury he picked up at the Miami Open in March.
In other news, Novak Djokovic gets started against French wildcard Pierre-Hugues Herbert as he attempts to land his 25th Grand Slam singles title.
In the women’s singles, meanwhile, there is no Emma Raducanu but British No.1 Katie Boulter faces a tough match against Paula Badosa in the opening round.
The French Open gets started on Sunday, May 26 as Djokovic and Iga Swiatek look to defend their titles in the men’s singles and women’s singles respectively.
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