Rafael Nadal withdraws from his men’s doubles semi-final match alongside Casper Ruud

In the singles, Rafael Nadal made it to his first ATP final since 2022.

Rafael Nadal withdraws from his men’s doubles semi-final match alongside Casper Ruud

Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud (Via Imago)

Rafael Nadal has decided to prioritize his body and has withdrawn from the men’s double semi-final match at the Swedish Open. The Spaniard paired up with Casper Ruud for the doubles leg of the tournament. It was an unexpected duo, but the fans loved their combination.

They played two matches in this tournament and were totally in sync. They got through their first match quite easily but faced a challenge in the quarterfinal match against the duo of Roman Safiullin and Theo Arribage. After losing the second set, they played a long tie-break before winning 4-6, 6-3, 10-12.

YouTube video

With this, Nadal and Ruud were through to the semifinal, but unfortunately, Nadal’s singles semi-final match was also on the same day. He beat his semi-final opponent in a tough three-setter to make it to his first ATP final since 2022. Keeping his body in mind, the Spaniard decided to pull out of the doubles semi-final.

From the last two days, he has spent more than six hours on court and would hope to get some rest by missing out on the doubles match. Although the fans would have wanted to witness more of the Rune-Nadal combination, the Spaniard needs to rest his body.

Rafael Nadal praised his semi-final opponent after a tough three-setter

Spanish Maestro Rafael Nadal decided to opt out of his men’s doubles match. He just finished a singles semi-final match against Duje Ajdukovic and had decided to prioritize his body for the upcoming finals.

Casper Ruud and Rafael Nadal
Casper Ruud and Rafael Nadal (Via Imago)

He and Casper Ruud were one of the fan favorite duo of the tournament but, unfortunately, could not play to get adequate rest for the big day. However, Ruud did not last long in the singles tournament. He lost in his first match at Bastad.

Nonetheless, Nadal is through to the final in Bastad. Although he started slow against Ajdukovic, Nadal soon put up a fight. He bounced right back into the game with consecutive breaks in the second set and no double faults at all.

The final set was the most interesting of all. Both the players exchanged early games, but it was Nadal who got another break over the Croatian. With a good lead, he just had to serve out the match and did it with ease. With over 80% first service points, Nadal won the match to enter his first final in over two years.

In Case You Missed It: