Rafael Nadal once again faced waiting game ahead of the 2024 Italian Open in Rome, but now he can prepare for his first-round opponent.
The Spaniard's comeback has been going really well. At the 2024 Madrid Open, he managed to outplay three players, before losing to Jiri Lehecka in his fourth match at the tournament.
Of course, the most ideal scenario for Nadal would be to beat all of his opponents and win the trophy, like he used to only a few years ago, but given how cautious his statements were, maybe even he didn't expect to lift the trophy at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
After his stay in the Spanish capital, the 37-year-old moved to the capital of another country - Italy. There, he will play in another ATP Masters 1000 tournament, his last before heading to Paris for the French Open.
After the draw for the Italian Open was made, Nadal found out that if he'll win his first-round match, he will play against the seventh-seeded Hubert Hurkacz, but he had no idea who would be his first-round opponent.
It was supposed to be one of the qualifiers, but with a wide range of players competing in the qualifying, the Spanish legend could have drawn anyone, and now he knows who will be his first-round opponent at Foro Italico.
World no. 108, Zizou Bergs, bested Patrick Kypson and Jerry Shang in his two qualifying matches to book the main draw spot in Rome, and the draw was ruthless to him, allocating him a 10-time champion at the event.
A couple of weeks ago, Nadal managed to easily outplay much younger first-round opponent, and Bergs will be facing a similarly daunting task. If he fails on his mission, and Nadal wins also his second-round match, his third-round opponent will most likely be the 25th-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry.