Rafael Nadal’s First Win in Months: Will a New Winning Series Come?
Rafael Nadal has not played a tour-level match since May 27, when he faced Alexander Zverev in the opening round of Roland Garros. To recall his last victory, it was against Zizou Bergs (4-6, 6-3, 6-4) on May 9 in Rome.
More than two months later, Nadal, who has 22 Grand Slam singles titles, won the Nordea Open in Bastad, Sweden, competing in doubles with world number nine Casper Ruud. The score of the match ended as 6-1 and 6-4 against Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela and the second seed of the tournament, Guido Andreozzi. However, Nadal had to hold out for victory after several uncomfortable rain breaks.
“I’m more used to it than Rafa, I guess. I live in Norway and he’s from Spain,” Ruud said jokingly about rain delays. “He’s getting older, so it might be hard for him to start out of the blue.”
However, it was Nadal who excelled on the international sports stage. Although this doubles victory was not as important as Spain’s European Football Championship win or Carlos Alcaraz’s Wimbledon victory, it was Nadal’s first doubles victory since the Australian Open preparation tournament in Melbourne in 2022. Additionally, this was the first tournament he played in Bastad since 2005.
“As a whole country, we are proud of these achievements,” Nadal said. “These successes of Spanish sport create passion and motivation in people, which is definitely a positive development for our country.”
While Nadal and Ruud broke their opponents’ serves four times throughout the match, they themselves broke serve only once and showed their experience by winning 27 out of 41 games in the first set.
“It was a very good match, wasn’t it? It’s our first time playing together and I think we’ve gelled pretty well,” Nadal said. “It’s very special for me to return here after almost 20 years.”
Nadal, who will play his singles match on Tuesday, won the singles championship and reached the semi-finals in doubles (with Juan Monaco) in the two matches he played in Bastad 19 years ago.
