“Defending my title here from 2005,” Rafael Nadal shows his funny side as he reaches the Bastad final after 19 years
Rafael Nadal makes his first final since Roland Garros 2022.
Follow Us
Rafael Nadal (via Imago)
22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal is back in a final after more than two years. On Saturday, he came from behind to beat Duje Ajdukovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the Nordea Open. This is his first final since the 2022 Roland Garros.
Nadal shared a funny memory on Instagram, where talked about his 2005 title win at Bastad. He hopes to win his first ATP title of the season on Sunday.
Very happy to be back in a final and… 19 years later in the final here in Bastad. As I said jokingly defending my title here from 2005….(laughing emoticon).
Rafael Nadal wrote on Instagram
Nadal had a tough match against Mariano Navone on Friday. It took him four hours to win. On Saturday, the 38-year-old faced Croatian qualifier Ajdukovic for the first time. After losing the first set and his serve at the start of the second, he broke the qualifier’s serve five times in the last two sets.
Nadal also lost a double-break lead in the final set. Ajdukovic came back from 0-3 to 3-3. But ‘Nadal the King of Clay broke his serve again and held his own serve to win the match. The semi-final lasted two hours and 13 minutes.
Rafael Nadal withdraws from men’s doubles action with Casper Ruud in Bastad
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the doubles event at the Swedish Open. This decision came right after he secured a spot in the singles final by defeating Duje Ajdukovic. The 22-time Grand Slam champion will now face Nuno Borges in the final at Bastad.
In a post-match press conference, Nadal said he won’t play in the doubles event with Casper Ruud. They were set to play against Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos in the semi-finals. The left-hander wants to save his energy for the singles final.
Nadal played over six hours of tennis between Friday and Saturday. His quarter-final win against Mariano Navone was a nearly four-hour long match.
Regarding Nadal’s doubles, he will be next seen in action at the Paris Olympics. The 38-year-old will team up with four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz for Spain.
In case you missed it!
- Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from his men’s doubles semi-final match alongside Casper Ruud
- Rafael Nadal beat Duje Ajdukovic in an exciting game to enter his first ATP Final in over 2 years
Stay Updated!
Fahad Hamid
(718 Articles Published)