"Rafael Nadal deserved to be seeded" - Andre Agassi's ex-coach bemoans Spaniard's early French Open exit after facing Alexander Zverev in 1R

For the first time in his career, Rafael Nadal faced a first-round exit at the French Open following his 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 defeat by Alexander Zverev. Andre Agassi's ex-coach Brad Gilbert bemoaned the organizers' decision to keep Nadal unseeded.

Before the 2024 French Open draw took place, there were calls for Nadal to be seeded. However, the organizers decided against it.

An unseeded player can be drawn against any of the other 127 participants in the competition. When the Spaniard was drawn against the reigning Italian Open champion, an audible gasp from the attendees echoed around the hall where the draw took place.

Come matchday, Nadal oozed confidence as he entered the Court Philippe-Chatrier in a grand manner. His 14 title-winning years were announced in French as the crowd cheered him on non-stop. Unfortunately for his supporters, he ended up losing the match.

Andre Agassi's ex-coach Gilbert, who currently trains Coco Gauff, previously opined about an unseeded player being able to draw anyone. After Nadal's defeat, Gilbert felt the tournament could have seeded him and things would have shaped out differently.

"Didn’t see a lot of Vamos-Rafa match, definitely had chances in 2nd set, still feel like he deserved to be seeded like 20th and could work way into tournament. Who knows about ... what the result could have been, just my 2 cents," Gilbert wrote on X.

Zverev outclassed Nadal in the first set but the Spaniard was on the verge of making a comeback. He broke the German and led 4-2 in the second set but the fourth-seed ultimately broke back and won the match in straight sets.

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French Open director Amelie Mauresmo defended the tournament's decision to keep Rafael Nadal unseeded

After Rafael Nadal was drawn against Alexander Zverev, the French Open came under fire as some observers criticized the organizers for not seeding the Spaniard.

Rafael Nadal at the 2024 French Open.

Nadal, a record 14-time French Open winner, is now out of the top 250 ATP rankings. Theoretically, the tournament could have still seeded him based on past results but director Amelie Mauresmo believes seeding him could have caused other problems.

"If we could, we would have done it. But protecting him would have solved some problems, but it would have brought many more," Mauresmo said in an interview with Le Figaro.

"Even Wimbledon stopped working like that several years ago. It's sport, everything is possible. There are also other wonderful first rounds like (the) [Stanislas] Wawrinka vs [Andy] Murray match between these two great veterans, it's another extraordinary match.”