Tournament organizers made a mistake in seeding 13-time champion Rafael Nadal #3 at this year’s French Open. While world #2 Danil Medvedev holds a ranking ahead of Nadal, he does not deserve his placement as the #2 seed.
The Rulebooks
A subtle change of wording may have led to this mistake. The 2020 ITF Grand Slam rule book states,
“The selection of seeds will be at the discretion of each individual Grand Slam Tournament Committee, however, the computer ranking list dated approximately seven (7) days prior to the tournament shall be a primary, but not sole, basis for such selection.”
The 2021 iteration of the rulebook states,
“Selection of Seeds. The ranking list dated approximately seven (7) days prior to the tournament shall be the basis for such selection.”
The 2021 rules do not say “sole basis” or “only basis.” Organizers should have recognized this and acted appropriately. Nadal should be seeded #2.
Look at the Records
While Medvedev holds more ranking points than Nadal, common sense shows Nadal should be seeded ahead of Medvedev. Medvedev’s 2021 1-2 record on European clay this spring is no match for Nadal’s 14-2 win-loss tally. Additionally, Nadal won clay titles in Barcelona and Rome.
That’s right, Nadal, the 13-time Roland Garros champion, has more clay titles this year than Medvedev has match wins on clay.
All-Time Greats
Besides his current form, Nadal is the 13-time champion who deserves better treatment. As the best ever clay court player Nadal should be given the benefit of the eye test in seeding. He does not deserve the #2 seed because of sentimentality, he should have it because he has earned it.
By seeding Nadal #3, organizers created a situation where, if form holds, Nadal will face world #1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Djokovic and Nadal are career-long rivals still playing at or near the top of their games. They should be seeded so that their potential matchup is in the finals. This error negatively affects Djokovic nearly as much as Nadal. As the #1 player in the world, the Serbian should not encounter the top clay court player before the finals.
Medvedev is an outstanding player and the road to the trophy still may go through his racket, but this mistake is glaring. Soon, Nadal and Djokovic will give way to a new generation of stars who play and win Grand Slam finals. But not yet. Now is not the time to rigidly ignore what is plainly obvious. Regardless of computer rankings, common sense should prevail. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal should be seeded #1 and #2.
This is an Opinion piece. As such, it does not necessarily reflect the views of anyone at LWOT other than the author.
Main Photo from Getty.
