BASTAD, Sweden — Rafael Nadal‘s winning run at the clay-court Nordea Open ended Sunday when the Spaniard was beaten by Nuno Borges 6-3, 6-2 in the final Sunday.
The seventh-seeded Portuguese player broke the Nadal serve five times on his way to a first ATP Tour title. It was Nadal’s first final since the 2022 French Open.
“It’s crazy; in tennis it doesn’t happen when you expect it sometimes,” Borges said. “I know we all wanted Rafa to win, a part of me wished that too, but something even bigger inside of me really pushed through today.”
Nadal was playing at the tournament in Sweden for the first time since he won the title as a 19-year-old in 2005 as he prepares for the Olympic tournament on clay at Roland Garros in Paris.
Nadal, 38, skipped Wimbledon as he didn’t want to switch surface to grass and then back to clay and risk injury. He has been dealing with hip and abdominal injuries over the past year and a half.