French Open decides not to reseed Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal could enter the French Open as the fifth seed despite winning the tournament seven times. (Getty Images) According to French newspaper L'Equipe,

Courtney Nguyen | May 4, 2013

French Open decides not to reseed Rafael Nadal /

Rafael Nadal could enter the French Open as the fifth seed despite winning the tournament seven times. (Getty Images)

According to French newspaper L'Equipe, French Open officials actually considered reseeding seven-time champion Rafael Nadal.

They thought about making him the tournament's top seed "as a token of appreciation" but have instead opted not to.

The tournament will stick to its traditional system of seeding players according to the ATP rankings as they sit on the Monday before the tournament, May 20.

https://twitter.com/christophclarey/status/330591504924045312

Nadal, who has dominated Roland Garros by winning seven of the last eight years, has seen his ranking slip to No. 5 after a seven-month absence because of a knee injury. Since his return in February, Nadal has made the final of all six tournaments he's played, winning four of them.

Published May 4, 2013

COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.