Rafael Nadal's French Open 2023 seeding a "bigger question" than Carlos Alcaraz's No. 1 spot: John McEnroe's brother Patrick

John McEnroe's brother Patrick believes that Rafael Nadal's seeding at this year's French Open is a bigger question than whether Carlos Alcaraz is the top-ranked player in the world.

Nadal suffered a hip injury during his disastrous title defense at the Australian Open, and is yet to play a match since. The Spaniard pulled out of all the clay-court tournaments he was scheduled to compete in and is in a race against time to be fit for the French Open.

Carlos Alcaraz, meanwhile, is assured of being the top seed at the Paris Major after winning his opening match at the Italian Open against Albert Ramos-Vinolas on Saturday. This is the first time that the 20-year-old will be the No. 1 seed at a Grand Slam.

However, Patrick McEnroe recently claimed that Rafael Nadal's seeding at the French Open, if he is to play, is a bigger issue compared to Alcaraz's ranking.

"Yup….the bigger question is what will @RafaelNadal be seeded…if he can play @rolandgarros???" McEnroe tweeted.

Rafael Nadal should at least be in the top 4 seeds at the French Open: Patrick McEnroe

Rafael Nadal at the 2023 Australian Open

Not long ago, Patrick McEnroe claimed that Rafael Nadal should be at least among the top four seeds at the French Open, if not in the top two. Nadal is currently ranked No. 14.

McEnroe also said that he did not expect the French Tennis Federation to award the Spaniard a higher seeding at Roland Garros.

"He's dropped down to like 15 in the rankings," he said on his podcast 'Holding Court with Patrick McEnroe.' That will be another interesting thing. The French Federation who makes the draws and the seedings, they've always gone by the rules, the rankings. When Rafa faced Djoker in the quarters, I didn't like that but they're not going to change."

"If they didn't change last year, I can't imagine that they're going to put Rafa as the one or two seed, which I personally think they should, at least top 4, because now, unless he goes on some run in these clay-court tournaments, which is looking unlikely based on how many he's going to play, he's going to be well outside the top 10 come time for the Roland Garros. So that is the biggest question mark that we all want to have an answer for," he added.

Rafael Nadal is the reigning French Open champion, having beaten Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in last year's final. He also beat Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime en route to the title.