Nuno Borges has mixed feelings about maiden ATP Tour title win after beating hero Rafael Nadal
Nuno Borges admitted that he felt a little bit conflicted in winning his first ATP Tour title by denying Rafael Nadal a landmark win.
Borges defeated the king of clay to win his first ATP Tour championship on Sunday at the Nordea Open.
The seventh-seeded Portuguese defeated Nadal 6-3, 6-2 to win the clay-court ATP 250.
Borges executed a rock-solid effort against the 22-time Grand Slam winner Nadal, breaking the Spaniard’s serve five times on his way to victory in his first tour-level final.
“I don’t know what to say. I think I was wishing for this moment for a while already,” said Borges in his post-match interview.
“It’s crazy, in tennis it doesn’t happen when you expect it sometimes. I know we all wanted Rafa to win, a part of me wished that too, but something even bigger inside of me really pushed through today. Through all the emotions, through all the ups and downs.
“it wasn’t about playing my best tennis, it was just coming up in the big moments where I wanted, and I couldn’t have played better. I’m just really happy overall. I really don’t know what to say, I’m very emotional.”
Nadal struggled to keep his serve consistent during his run in Bastad despite reaching the championship match.
In turn, Borges was very clinical against his opponent’s second delivery and concluded the match winning 72% (13/18) of second-serve return points.
Through his efforts at the Nordea Open Borges ensured he will rise nine spots to a career-high No 42 in the ATP Rankings next week.
Nadal can look back on a successful week in Bastad, where he advanced to his first tour-level championship match since Roland Garros in 2022. Now that he is 11-6 this year, the 38-year-old Spaniard will focus on getting ready for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
“Many congratulations to Nuno,” Nadal said during the trophy ceremony in Bastad.
“You’ve been playing great during the whole week, so you deserve it more than anyone else here. Congratulations and enjoy your moment, it’s always special winning a title. I wish you all the very best for the rest of the season.
“I have been here for the week enjoying this amazing place. I really had fun on court, played some very long matches. Today wasn’t my best day, but all the credit to Nuno. He played very well and it was so difficult for me, so well done.”
