Rafael Nadal reached his first final since winning the 2022 French Open, defeating Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic in a hard-fought three-set match in Bastad ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Despite a challenging contest, Nadal emerged victorious with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. This victory marks a significant milestone for Nadal, who last played in a final in 2005 in Bastad.
Reflecting on the match, Nadal said, “It was a very tough match. It was very difficult honestly, but I found a way to survive and be through to the final after a long time without being in a final, so that’s great news and I’m very happy with that.”
The 38-year-old will face Portuguese seventh seed Nuno Borges in the final, who defeated Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-3, 6-4. Nadal, ranked 261 after a series of injuries, aims for the 93rd singles title of his career. His last title was his record-extending 14th win at Roland Garros two years ago.
Nadal commented on his return to form, saying, “It’s always a great feeling to be back in the final. I won four matches in a row, something I wasn’t able to make happen since two years ago. A lot of things happened… I’m still in this process of recovering a lot of things I lost because I had a very important hip surgery almost one year ago, so things are not going that easy.”
During the match, Nadal faced a strong challenge from the 23-year-old Ajdukovic. After losing the first set, Nadal regained control, breaking twice in the second set and overcoming a series of setbacks in the third. Despite losing his serve twice in succession, he managed to break again in the seventh game and secured victory with a comfortable hold two games later.
Nadal is using the Bastad event to prepare for the Olympic Games, where the tennis competition will be held on the clay courts of Roland Garros. He has previously won gold in singles at Beijing 2008 and in doubles at Rio 2016.
Having only returned to action this week since his first-round loss at the French Open in late May, Nadal was also scheduled to play in the doubles with Casper Ruud but withdrew as a precaution after spending six hours on court over his past two singles matches.