“Need all the Americans to stay the f**k away from Rafael Nadal” – Tennis fans react to Brisbane International draw

Tennis fans on the internet recently learned that the Brisbane International tournament would feature Rafael Nadal as a wildcard. Now, many are wishing for the Spaniard to get an easy draw.

Nadal will return to competitive tennis after a break of almost a year. The Spaniard was out of action due to a hip injury that needed surgery.

Nadal last played a match on January 18, 2023, at the Australian Open. He has now announced his decision to enter the Brisbane International event, which is scheduled to begin on December 31.

The 37-year-old will be joined by some of the top-ranked players, including Holger Rune, Grigor Dimitrov, Ben Shelton and Sebastian Korda. Big-serving Reilly Opelka will also be making his return to on-court action in Brisbane, after a 17-month-long gap.

Several tennis fans expressed their apprehensions about the 22-time Grand Slam champion's chances.

"Will be tough draw for Rafa," a fan wrote.

Another fan wrote:

"WC Rafa, hope he gets a doable R1."

One of the fans expressed their fear of Nadal getting drawn against an American tennis player in particular, given his poor record against them. Between March 2022 and January 2023, Nadal lost five matches against players from the USA.

To begin with, Taylor Fritz defeated the 37-year-old at the 2022 Indian Wells Masters in the final. Later in September, Nadal failed to go past Frances Tiafoe at the US Open.

He then lost to Tommy Paul at the Paris Masters in November. Fritz scored one more win over Nadal during the round-robin stage at the ATP Finals last year.

Moreover, the Spaniard's last loss before being forced to put his 2023 season on hold also came against an American: Mackenzie McDonald.

"Need all the americans to stay the f**k away from him," the user wrote.

Here are a few more reactions from X (formerly Twitter):

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"Even if Rafael Nadal’s going to be maybe a little rusty, he’s still going to be playing really well" - Taylor Fritz

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Ahead of Rafael Nadal's return, Taylor Fritz said the Spaniard would be tough to beat even though he's not been active for a long time.

"He’s Rafa, so I think even if he’s going to be maybe a little rusty coming back or it takes some time, he’s still going to be playing really well and he’s still going to be tough for a lot of guys to play early and draws as well just because of him being unseeded," Fritz said (via Eurosport).

Fritz spoke from experience, as he has suffered defeat at the hands of the 22-time Grand Slam champion twice thus far.

The duo played against each other for the first time at the Mexican Open in 2020, with Nadal winning 6-3, 6-2. The Spaniard's second win against the American came at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. He defeated Fritz in a five-setter to book his semifinal berth.