Rafael Nadal will soon return to the ATP Tour, and his colleague, Taylor Fritz talked about his comeback.
Only recently, the experienced Spaniard announced that he would be coming back at the 2024 Brisbane International. Since he hasn't played for almost 365 days, that means that he will be unseeded at any tournament that he enters early in the season.
And that means only one thing. Anyone in the draw, no matter if seeded first as Nadal's biggest rival Novak Djokovic, or ranked low, can face the 22-time Grand Slam champion in the first round.
That means, that potentially, we could see a first-round match at the 2024 Australian Open between the 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal and 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic.
One of the players that can possibly stand on the other side of the net is also Taylor Fritz, who would probably want to avoid being the one who would face the Spaniard. Recently, the American spoke about Nadal's comeback, saying he expected him to come back.
"I mean, I expected that, it’s Rafa. I don’t think that he was ever going to just retire and not give it another go, so I definitely, after the amount of time he’s had off, I expected him to come back to start the year. So I think that it’s good news for tennis as a whole."
However, as an competitor, Fritz focuses on the fact that the 37-year-old will be unseeded at the tournament, which means that even he can meet him in the first round.
"I think that maybe it’s going to be tough. Maybe he might be a little bit rusty. I think it’s going to be pretty crazy having him in draws where he’s going to be unseeded. So anybody can play Rafa in the first round, so it’s going to be pretty crazy."
The highest-ranked American on the ATP Tour predicted that while Nadal may be "a little rusty" on his comeback, he will certainly be a threat for anyone he faces.
"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."
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