Roland Garros committee member and former French Davis Cup captain Guy Forget tells Reuters that the tournament should consider a higher seeding for current No. 5 Rafael Nadal. Defending champion Nadal has won a record seven French Open titles, but he missed the second half of last season and the first month of this season with a knee injury.
Nadal trails fourth-ranked David Ferrer by nearly 1,000 points in the ATP rankings; his chances of surpassing Ferrer for the No. 4 spot before Roland Garros are slim. Nadal is defending 1,590 points prior to Roland Garros, while Ferrer only has to defend 830 ranking points. If Nadal isn’t seeded in the top four at the French Open it’s possible he could face No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.
Roland Garros usually bases seedings on the world rankings, but Forget suggests Nadal should be seeded higher — and says Grand Slam rules support the tournament's right to make such a move.
"Since we can see them meeting in the finals of the biggest events in the next weeks, it would be a shame to have them [meet] in a quarterfinal in Roland Garros," Forget said. "The rules state the Grand Slam events have the right to change the seeding regarding the situation of the players. Wimbledon has done that in the past. I would not find it illogical to change the seeds."