Rafael Nadal earns dominant win in his comeback match with top 10 star
Rafael Nadal triumphed on his return to action as he teamed up with world No 9 Casper Ruud to earn a dominant doubles victory at the Nordea Open in Bastad.
Nadal and Ruud cruised past Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela 6-1, 6-4 in the opening round of the doubles event in Bastad. The pair broke four times and lost serve just once in the 79-minute contest.
The duo share a friendly relationship and both train at Nadal’s academy in Mallorca, while Ruud has revealed the Spaniard is his idol.
The wildcard pairing will face either Theo Arribage and Roman Safiullin or Mariano Navone and Cameron Norrie in the second round.
Nadal, 38, was playing his first match since losing to Alexander Zverev in the opening round at Roland Garros on May 27.
The tennis legend will also feature in singles at the clay-court ATP 250 tournament and will take on world No 461 Leo Borg in the first round on Tuesday. Borg, a 21-year-old Swedish wildcard, is the son of tennis icon Bjorn Borg.
The former world No 1 is playing at the Swedish Open to prepare for the tennis event at the Paris Olympics, which will be staged at Stade Roland Garros from July 27 to August 4. Nadal chose to skip Wimbledon to prioritise training on clay ahead of the Games.
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As well as playing in singles at the Olympics, Nadal will form a dream Spanish doubles team with 21-year-old compatriot Carlos Alcaraz.
In the on-court interview after the doubles win, Nadal said: “It’s a pleasure playing with a good friend and an amazing player like Casper here in Bastad.
“Personally, I am happy and I think it was a good match. We played quite well in the first time we played together and I’m happy to be back here after almost 20 years.
“I have great memories from this place from 2003, 2004 and 2005, so I am enjoying this week and hopefully can keep going.”
Ruud added: “Like Rafa said, I think it was a good match. When it comes to the rain delays, I’m used to it more than Rafa, being from Norway and he is from Spain.
“He is getting old (smiling), so I’m not sure how his body feels when he has to stop and start all the time, but he did well. We played good doubles and it was a lot of fun to share the court with Rafa as always.”
Nadal, who has been plagued by injury issues for large parts of the last two years, is currently ranked 261st in the world. The 22-time Grand Slam champion is playing his sixth tournament of the 2024 season.
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