Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev were scheduled to practice together on Friday, but the session was canceled after the draw was released.
The highly anticipated 2024 Roland Garros men's draw was released on Thursday and the world was fixated on who would face 14-time champion Nadal in the first round.
Because he entered the tournament with a protected ranking, the Spaniard was a possible first-round opponent for any of the 127 men in the draw, including the Top 32 seeds.
As fate would have it, Nadal drew the most in-form player coming to Roland Garros, and that was Zverev. The fourth-seeded German won the Italian Open in Rome for a second time.
It is the last major event before Roland Garros and historically has been a decisive measure of a player's progress at the clay Grand Slam. With the world's top three struggling either in terms of form or fitness, Zverev has emerged as one of the favorites to win the tournament.
But drawing Nadal right off the bat is probably the last thing he wanted. In fact, the pair were penciled in to hold a joint practice session, which is nothing unusual in the top-tier of men's tennis, where the best players have always practiced with one another before the tournament.
Understandably, because the draw paired them together, that won't happen. This is also a no-brainer since both players will plan strategically for the match and work out tactics with their respective teams.
Remarkably, Nadal and Zverev have been set for their first match on a match court since the 2022 edition of Roland Garros. The semifinal clash from two years ago had an anticlimactic finish because Zverev slipped and damaged his ankle in the second-set tie-break.
It was one of the most competitive matches of the tournament, but sadly, it ended in a retirement. Nadal would advance into the final, thrashing Casper Ruud in straight sets to win a 22nd Grand Slam title.
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