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World No 10 Taylor Fritz says it is "pretty crazy" knowing that Rafael Nadal is about to be unseeded in tournaments and that he could be anybody's first-round opponent. Nadal, who has been ranked at No 1 in the world numerous times, has plummeted to No 663 in the world.
On Friday, Nadal announced that he will be coming back to pro tennis at the Brisbane International in the first week of the 2024 season. Nadal hasn't played since this year's Australian Open and Fritz expects the Spaniard to be a bit rusty at the start of his return.
However, Fritz warns that Nadal is always a dangerous rival.
Fritz on Nadal being unseeded: Pretty crazy
"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. 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. 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," Fritz said, via Eurosport.
Meanwhile, Fritz has had four meetings against Nadal. After losing to Nadal in the 2020 Acapulco final, Fritz upset the Spaniard in the 2022 Indian Wells final for his Masters title. Fritz then suffered a five-set defeat to Nadal at 2022 Wimbledon but managed to beat at the Spaniard at the ATP Finals later that year.