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Rafael Nadal came back with a bang at the Bastad Open. He beat Leo Borg, tennis great Bjorn Borg’s son, to go to the next round on Tuesday. This victory helps Nadal get ready for the Paris Olympics.
In his first singles game since leaving the French Open on May 27 Nadal, who’s 38, beat Borg, who’s 21, 6-3, 6-4. Borg’s ranked 461st in the world right now. Both guys got wild card spots to play in this Swedish clay-court event. Nadal slipped on a wet line at the start but bounced back fast. He broke Borg’s serve to get a 3-1 lead and won the first set in 43 minutes serving four aces. Getting an early break in the second set helped Nadal win on his second match point after 1 hour and 25 minutes of play. This win gives Nadal his eighth ATP tour match win this season.
“It’s cool, I’m getting to defend my title,” Nadal joked thinking back to when he won in Bastad in 2005 at 19. “I haven’t been on the court much , but it’s awesome to play with so many people watching. Even when things got tough, my team and the fans gave me a ton of support boosting my energy.”
Nadal also had nice things to say about who he played against: “It’s a big deal to compete with the kid of one of the biggest stars in tennis history. Leo did a good job and has a bright future ahead. I hope everything goes well for him.”
Nadal’s next match is against fifth seed Cameron Norrie in the second round. Norrie beat Slovak Jozef Kovalik 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 to advance. Nadal chose to skip Wimbledon to get ready for the Olympics, which will happen at Roland Garros. He’s won 14 French Open titles there.
On Monday, Nadal played doubles with Casper Ruud on clay in Bastad. They won their match just two weeks before the Paris Games start. Top seed Andrey Rublev will play his first match on Wednesday. He’s going up against Thiago Tirante from Argentina, who’s ranked 121st.
