Rafael Nadal +101 in ATP Rankings as he sets record showcasing his amazing longevity
Rafael Nadal reached his first ATP final in over two years after overcoming a stern test from Duje Ajdukovic to earn a three-set comeback victory at the Nordea Open in Bastad.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion recovered to defeat 23-year-old Croatian qualifier Ajdukovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Swedish Open.
Nadal trailed by a set and a break at 4-6, 0-1 and was also pegged back to 3-3 in the third set having had a double break lead at 3-0, but he held off the world No 130.
The 38-year-old’s victory was an impressive effort given he won a marathon four-hour quarter-final contest against Mariano Navone a day earlier.
The Spaniard’s physical recovery bodes well after his injury issues in recent years as he continues to build match practice ahead of the upcoming Paris Olympics.
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Nadal will face either Thiago Agustin Tirante or Nuno Borges in the final at the ATP 250 tournament on Sunday. He also reached the semi-finals of the doubles with Casper Ruud, but the pair withdrew from their match today.
With the 165 points earned from his run to the final, Nadal has jumped 101 places from 261st to 160th in the Live ATP Rankings. The former world No 1 could climb as high as 135th if he secures the title.
By reaching his 131st ATP final and first since the 2022 French Open, Nadal has become the first player to appear in tour-level finals 20 seasons apart. Nadal reached his first ATP title match in Auckland in January 2004.
In his on-court interview, Nadal hailed the quality of Ajdukovic’s backhand and stressed the difficulty of the match.
“Very tough match, the opponent had one of the best backhands that I played against and he came here with a lot of confidence,” Nadal assessed.
“I think I was trying push him back because it was very, very difficult honestly. But yeah, I found a way to survive and be through to the final after a long time without being in a final. So that’s great news and I’m very happy with that.”
The tennis great added: “Always is a great feeling to be back in the final, I won four matches in a row — something I was not able to make that happen, probably since two years ago.
“A lot of things happened, that’s the truth. And still in this process of recovering a lot of things that I lost because I had a very important hip surgery one, almost one year ago. So things are not going that easy.
“But I am fighting, I fighted during the whole tournament to be where I am today and I think matches like yesterday, like today, helps to improve a lot of things on court. So happy with that and let’s see if I’m able to play a little bit better tomorrow.”
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