Nadal is in French Open Field, Will Face Zverev in 1st Round

Spain's Rafael Nadal takes part in a practice session ahead of The French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at The Roland Garros Complex in Paris on May 22, 2024. (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP)
Spain's Rafael Nadal takes part in a practice session ahead of The French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at The Roland Garros Complex in Paris on May 22, 2024. (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP)
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Nadal is in French Open Field, Will Face Zverev in 1st Round

Spain's Rafael Nadal takes part in a practice session ahead of The French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at The Roland Garros Complex in Paris on May 22, 2024. (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP)
Spain's Rafael Nadal takes part in a practice session ahead of The French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at The Roland Garros Complex in Paris on May 22, 2024. (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP)

Rafael Nadal is in the French Open field, after all, and Thursday's draw set up the 14-time champion for a challenging first-round matchup against No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev.

“That’s going to be hard, but he is a warrior," tournament director Amélie Mauresmo said. "Anything is possible with Rafa.”

This is expected to be Nadal's last appearance at Roland Garros, and he had been coy about whether he would compete this time after two seasons of off-and-on action because of injuries, including a surgically repaired hip that forced him to miss his favorite tournament a year ago, The Associated Press reported.

After a loss at the Italian Open this month, Nadal said he needed to think about whether to play in Paris. But the Spaniard, who turns 38 on June 3, has been practicing on the red clay at Roland Garros this week and his name was officially in the bracket.

The French Open begins on Sunday.

The Nadal-Zverev winner could be on a path toward a potential semifinal meeting against No. 1 seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic, whose opening opponent is French wild-card entry Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

The potential men's quarterfinals are Djokovic against No. 7 Casper Ruud — who lost to Nadal in the 2022 final and 24-time major champion Djokovic in the 2023 final — and Zverev or Nadal against No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in the top half of the bracket, and No. 2 Jannik Sinner against No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz, and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz versus No. 6 Andrey Rublev in the bottom half.

In the women's draw, one intriguing semifinal could be No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who seeks a third consecutive French Open title, against No. 3 Coco Gauff, the reigning US Open champion who lost to Swiatek in the Paris final two years ago.

“I’m starting to really feel at home here,” Swiatek said at the draw ceremony.
She will start off against someone who was in the qualifying rounds, and then could face four-time major champion and former No. 1 Naomi Osaka.

The possible women's quarterfinals are Swiatek vs. No. 5 Marketa Vondrousova, and Gauff vs. No. 8 Ons Jabeur on the top half, and No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 6 Maria Sakkari, and No. 4 Elena Rybakina vs. No. 7 Zheng Qinwen on the bottom half.

Despite all of the success Nadal has enjoyed at the event — his career record there is 112-3 — the French tennis federation decided not to go against its usual rules that follow the ATP and WTA rankings to determine seedings.

So the 22-time major champion's inactivity-affected ranking of No. 276 left him unseeded — which meant Nadal could be selected in the computerized, random draw to face any opponent to start. His matchup against Zverev, the 2020 US Open runner-up and Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, is a rematch of their 2022 French Open semifinal that ended when Zverev tore ligaments in his right ankle.

Zverev, a 27-year-old from Germany, enters Roland Garros as a serious contender for what would be his first major title, coming off a trophy at the Italian Open on clay.

He's drawn attention lately for a serious matter away from tennis: A court proceeding is scheduled to begin next week in Germany related to accusations of physical abuse made by an ex-girlfriend of his. Zverev does not need to attend and has said he won't.

Another high-profile first-round matchup pits a pair of three-time Grand Slam champions against each other: Andy Murray, who just turned 37, versus Stan Wawrinka, who is 39. First-rounders to keep an eye on also include Australian Open runner-up Zheng against popular French veteran Alizé Cornet, who has said she will retire after the French Open, and two-time major finalist Karolina Pliskova against No. 15 seed Elina Svitolina, a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist.

One expected withdrawal was announced Thursday: fifth-ranked Jessica Pegula, an American who has reached six major quarterfinals.



Real Madrid Trusting New Improvised Defense to Hold on to La Liga Lead

Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)
Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)
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Real Madrid Trusting New Improvised Defense to Hold on to La Liga Lead

Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)
Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)

Real Madrid will have to stick to its improvised back line when it tries to hold on to its narrow lead in La Liga this weekend.

Madrid visits Osasuna on Saturday with a one-point lead over Atletico Madrid and a two-point advantage over Barcelona.

Depleted of defenders, coach Carlo Ancelotti fielded a back line that played together for the first time on Tuesday and won at Manchester City 3-2 in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs.

Ferland Mendy, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Raúl Asencio and Federico Valverde are expected to start in defense again this weekend.

Ancelotti doesn't have much choice. Injuries have robbed him of central defenders Éder Militão, Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba and right backs Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vázquez.

But the coach was pleasantly surprised by how well this new back line held up at Man City.

Tchouaméni is a midfielder plugged into the central defense and Valverde is also out of position at right back. Like Tchouaméni, Asencio is a B team player, who turned 22 on Thursday.

“The back four had never played together, not even in training,” Ancelotti said this week.

“They were absolutely fantastic. Tchouaméni has come in for a lot of criticism but he was incredible. Asencio’s maturity continues to surprise people and Valverde and Mendy were fantastic. We’ve been able to bring something really positive out of an emergency situation.”

Ancelotti said the whole team has put in the extra effort to help defensively and keep the squad well balanced.

“I always say that defending is about the attitude of the whole team," Ancelotti said. "We defended well as a unit (against City). The team delivered a well-rehearsed defensive display.”

The injuries have prevented Ancelotti from rotating the squad and resting players ahead of the decisive Champions League second leg at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium next week.

“We need Rüdiger and Alaba for the return leg and I think they’ll be available,” Ancelotti said.

Tight at the top In La Liga, Madrid is coming off a 1-1 draw at home against Atletico. Barcelona took advantage of that result to close the gap on the Madrid rivals.

The Catalan club, unbeaten this year with nine wins and two draws, will host sixth-placed Rayo Vallecano on Monday.

Atletico handed Barcelona its last loss in December, and will host mid-table Celta Vigo on Saturday. Diego Simeone's team has only one defeat — 1-0 at Leganes in January — in its last 22 games across all tournaments.

Elsewhere, fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao visits Espanyol, and fifth-placed Villarreal hosts Valencia. Sevilla is at last-placed Valladolid and Real Betis hosts Real Sociedad.