close
close

‘Great feeling’ as Rafael Nadal reaches first final in two years

Final Rafael Nadal Bastad

Spaniard Rafael Nadal celebrates his victory in the semi-final of the ATP Nordea Open tennis tournament against Croatia’s Duje Ajdukovic in Bastad, Sweden, on July 20, 2024. (Photo by Adam Ihse/TT / TT News Agency / AFP) / Sweden OUT

Rafael Nadal reached his first final since winning Roland Garros in 2022 on Saturday, beating Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic in a three-set clash in Bastad ahead of the Paris Olympics.

A day after his quarter-final victory in a four-hour span, the 22-time Grand Slam champion was tested again by Ajdukovic, the world number 130 who had won just two tour-level matches until this week.

The Spaniard recovered from the first set loss to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, reaching the final of a tournament he had won as a teenager during his last participation in 2005.

READ: Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray could say goodbye at the Paris Olympics

“It was a very tough match. It was very difficult to be honest, but I found a way to survive and reach the final after a long time without a final, so that’s great news and I’m very happy,” Nadal said.

The 38-year-old will face seventh-seeded Portuguese Nuno Borges, who defeated Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-3, 6-4, as he seeks his 93rd career singles title.

His most recent triumph came two years ago at Roland Garros, when he won the tournament for a record 14th time.

“It’s always a great feeling to be back in the final. I’ve won four matches in a row, something I haven’t done in two years,” said Nadal, whose ranking has dropped to 261 after a series of injuries.

“A lot has happened… I’m still trying to get back a lot of things that I lost because I had a very significant hip operation almost a year ago, so it’s not going so easy.

“But I’m fighting. I fought the whole tournament to be where I am now. Games like yesterday and today help to improve a lot of things on the pitch, so I’m happy with that. Let’s see if I can play a little bit better tomorrow.”

READ: Rafael Nadal on the entry list for the 2024 US Open

Nadal struggled early on against the 23-year-old Ajdukovic, going 3-0 down and a double break in the first set, but he fought back with two breaks in the second set after another poor start.

The former world number one seemed to have the third set under control as he took a 3-0 lead, but lost his serve twice in a row, making the same mistake as on Friday that nearly cost him the match.

In the seventh game he broke again and in the next game he saved two more break points, eventually claiming victory two games later with a comfortable win.

Nadal is using the Bastad event as preparation for the Olympic Games, where the tennis will be played on clay at Roland Garros. He won gold in the singles in Beijing in 2008 and gold in the doubles in Rio 2016.

He only returned to action this week for the first time since losing in the first round of Roland Garros at the end of May.

Nadal was also scheduled to play doubles later on Saturday, partnering Casper Ruud, but he announced he was withdrawing as a precaution after spending six hours on court in his last two singles matches.







Related Posts