WATCH: Rafael Nadal’s hilarious reaction to new nickname with Casper Ruud
After his quarterfinals victory along with Casper Ruud, Nadal got to know about his new nickname.
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Casper Ruud, Rafael Nadal (Images via Imago, X)
Rafael Nadal definitely doesn’t mind his nickname as he was failing to control his laughter after hearing it for the first time. Nadal is in Bastad, Sweden for the Nordea Open- a clay court event Nadal last played in 2005 and chose to play again to prepare for the Olympics, which will be played on the clay courts of Roland Garros.
Along with singles matches, Nadal has also paired up with Norway’s Casper Ruud for doubles. They played their first match on July 15 against Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela and Guido Andreozzi and after beating them, the team of Nadal and Ruud secured a three-set win over Theo Arribage and Roman Safiullin on July 17 in the quarterfinals.
After the victory with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-3, 12-10, Nadal got to know about his new nickname- ‘Ruudal’. “The what? What is it?” was Nadal’s first reaction as fans burst into laughter. Then he asked Ruud who was standing beside him and when the on-court interviewer explained the meaning of ‘Ruudal’, that is ‘Rude and Nadal’, Nadal joked he didn’t mind the nickname.
Yeah, I don't mind (laughs). Well, yeah, I have Fedal and now Ruudal, so both (laughs).Rafael Nadal said
Here’s the video:
Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud enjoying playing in front of the Bastad crowd
‘Ruudal’ will next play the winner of the quarterfinals match between the pair of Piotr Matuszewski, Pavel Kotov and Orlando Luz, Rafael Matos in the semifinals in front of a court filled with fans. It’s not always one sees a court full of fans during doubles matches, but in the Nordea Open, the man with 22 Grand Slam titles is participating, so one can always expect a full house.
I think we had some fun. It was an emotional match in the end, a good level of tennis against two good players. We enjoyed it and the crowd was amazing. A full crowd in a doubles match. That's fantastic. Just enjoying every single day here.Rafael Nadal said after the match
Rafael Nadal, who secured an easy win over Leo Borg in his first round, will next face Britain’s Cameron Norrie. Casper Ruud’s, however, singles run came to an end when he lost to Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro 6-3, 6-3.
Ruud played in the Nordea Open following his second-round exit at Wimbledon. Nadal withdrew from the tournament so that his body didn’t have to deal with the difficulty of adapting to clay again for the Olympics.
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Gouri Das
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