Swedish Open draw: Rafael Nadal to face Borg first up as his path is unveiled for comeback event
Rafael Nadal will face Leo Borg, son of the great Bjorn, in his opening clash at the Swedish Open in what will be the Spaniard’s first match since his French Open exit.
The 22-time winner skipped Wimbledon to prepare for the 2024 Olympics where he will represent Spain in the men’s doubles alongside Carlos Alcaraz.
Instead of going from clay to grass and back to clay as the Paris Games will be staged at Roland Garros, Nadal opted for an extended campaign on his favourite clay as the Swedish warm-up tournament takes place on the red dirt.
“I will play at the summer Olympics in Paris, my last Olympics. With this goal, we believe that the best for my body is not to change surface and keep playing on clay until then.
“It’s for this reason that I will miss playing at the Championships this year at Wimbledon,” Nadal – who has only played a handful of matches this year following his lengthy injury-enforced absence last year – said in June.
And the locals in Båstad are in for a treat as they could not have asked for a more interesting first-round encounter as tennis legend Nadal will take on the son of 11-time Grand Slam winner Bjorn with players in the main draw thanks to wildcards.
The great Bjorn held the record for most French Open titles as he won six until Nadal broke it with the Spaniard going on to win 14 trophies at Roland Garros.
For Nadal the Swedish Open will be his first tournament since he lost in the first round in Paris against Alexander Zverev while for Leo Borg it will be his ATP Tour-level match in 2024.
The 21-year-old has limited experience at the top with an overall record of 1-7 with his only win coming in Båstad last season.
If Nadal wins the opener then he could face fifth seed Cameron Norrie in the second round although the Brit needs to get past Jozef Kovalík first up.
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Fourth seed Mariano Navone, who has a bye in the first round, is projected to meet Norrie/Nadal in the quarter-final while second seed Casper Ruud is expected to await in the semi-final.
Ruud – who won the title in 2021 and finished runner-up to Andrey Rublev last year – has eighth-seeded Pavel Kotov in his bracket.
The top half of the draw is headlined by defending champion Rublev and he will face either Thiago Tirante or a qualifier in the first round while sixth seed Roman Safiullin is a projected quarter-final opponent.
If the seedings hold, then Rublev is expected to meet third seed Tallon Griekspoor in the semi-final.
With Nadal set to play doubles with Alcaraz at Paris 2024, he has also opted to enter the doubles of the Swedish Open as well as he will team up with Ruud.
The pair will open up against second seeds Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela.
Nadal is looking to win a third Olympic gold medal as he won the men’s singles tournament at the 2008 Beijing Olympics while he won gold alongside Marc Lopez in the men’s doubles at the 2016 Rio Games.