Rafael Nadal will return to tennis at the 2024 Barcelona Open, and he will have a tough draw at the ATP 500 tournament.
The main court at the Barcelona Open is called Pista Rafa Nadal because the Spaniard rarely misses this event, and he's the most successful player in the history of the tournament. It's one of his favorites, and he won it an incredible 12 times.
Whether this year he will be able to lift the trophy for the 13th time remains to be seen, but what seems to be confirmed is that he will play at the event. That's great news because there has been a lot of not-so-great news regarding Nadal this year.
The latest one was his withdrawal from the Monte-Carlo Masters due to another injury, but he never stopped practicing, per his own words.
That's good because he'll need his best tennis to succeed in Barcelona. His draw is far from easy because he's not seeded, which got him Flavio Cobolli in the first round. The Italian is no world-beater, but he knows how to play on clay and loves to attack.
That can escalate pretty quickly, but nobody would ever bet against Nadal on Pista Rafa Nadal. If he does win, he'll play against the fourth seed, Alex de Minaur, in the second round of the tournament.
Should he succeed further, Nadal would likely play Arthur Fils. They trained together in Kuwait before this season. Then, Ugo Humbert could possibly be his opponent in the quarter-final, and if he wins that match, too, it won't get any easier.
Two-time defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz would be his semi-final opponent, while the second-seeded Andrey Rublev would be Nadal's most likely final opponent.
Rafael Nadal's draw at the 2024 Barcelona Open (most likely opponents):
| Round | Opponent | H2H |
| R1 | Flavio Cobolli | 0-0 |
| R2 | Alex de Minaur | 3-1 |
| R3 | Arthur Fils | 0-0 |
| Quarter-final | Ugo Humbert | 0-0 |
| Semi-final | Carlos Alcaraz | 2-1 |
| Final | Andrey Rublev | 2-1 |
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