"Bad luck but fair" - Andy Murray dismisses questions about Rafael Nadal not being seeded at French Open resulting in tough Alexander Zverev draw

Former World No. 1 Andy Murray recently shared his thoughts on Rafael Nadal not being seeded at the 2024 French Open. Nadal will begin his campaign against Alexander Zverev in the first round of the tournament.

Rafael Nadal has amassed an extraordinary record at Roland Garros, losing only three out of 115 matches. Moreover, he has won the tournament a record 14 times in his career. Given these remarkable achievements, there have been suggestions that he should be granted a seed in the tournament.

However, Murray believes it is fair that Rafael Nadal is not seeded at the French Open. He contrasted this with Wimbledon, where many players historically did not play grass-court events beforehand. He further called it "bad luck" for Nadal. In a press conference before the French Open, Murray said,

"I think it's fair. I think the Wimbledon stuff was slightly different because lots of players wouldn't play any grass court tennis and would kind of arrive there having not played any matches. There was periods where a lot of top clay courters didn't even bother playing Wimbledon. So I think it's different now. I think the vast majority of players commit to the majors and the Grand Slams and look the way the draw works, I mean bad luck for Rafa."

Murray felt that it would be challenging to implement and potentially unfair to players ranked within the top 32.

"I think the way the seedings work, I think it's appropriate and in this case it's unfortunate how that's happened. I don't know how you gauge where someone should and shouldn't be seeded based on past or previous success, it'd be quite hard to do that and then there be a question under the players that are ranked 32 in the world, is it unfair on them," he added.

The 37-year-old concluded by saying it's unfortunate for Nadal, but the seeding system is fair because it reflects players' performance over the entire year.

"If they have been playing the whole year to achieve that ranking to miss on a seeding. So I think it's bad luck what's happened this time but the seedings are fair."

Nadal, who is currently ranked 276 in the world, has only appeared in four tournaments since last year due to injury. He could bid farewell at the end of this season.

Notably, Noami Osaka, Stan Wawrinka, and Sloane Stephens are some other renowned players who are unseeded.

Iga Swiatek roots for Rafael Nadal in the French Open despite a tough draw

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Despite Rafael Nadal facing a tough draw at the French Open, his ardent fan Iga Swiatek will still root for him. The Polish player said that she would watch the tournament as a fan but not as an expert.

"I don't know, I’m not an expert. We'll see, I'm going to watch it more from a fan perspective than, you know, to analyze. So, I just hope it's going to be entertaining and, and for sure it's a tough draw for Rafa, but I hope, I mean, I'm going to be kind of rooting for him. Sorry. Sorry, Alex. And we'll see. Yeah," Swiatek said in a press conference.

Rafael Nadal will be aiming to win his 15th French Open title this year. The 37-year-old leads the head-to-head tally against Zverev, having won seven out of ten encounters against the German.

Zverev, on the other hand, will be carrying his momentum after winning the Italian Open. He would look to win the first major of his career at the Roland Garros.