We could be accused of not having warned here. By not granting seeded status to Rafael Nadal for his last at Roland-Garros, the organizers exposed the man with 14 Porte d’Auteuil titles to a complicated draw. Obviously, there was no shortage of it. The Spaniard will have to contend with Alexander Zverev, seeded number 4 and very recent winner of the Masters 1000 in Rome, from the first round.
This draw extinguishes (almost) any hope of making Nadal’s last lap last a little in “his” tournament. Some will consider that it is a waste, others that it is the law of sport and that it was normal for the Spaniard, 276th player in the world, to be placed in the same boat as everyone else.
Either way, you’ll have to be there from the very first day of the tournament, Sunday, or Monday at best, if you want to say goodbye to Rafa. At worst, you will witness a real miracle, but right now, it’s really hard to believe that it’s possible.