Rafael Nadal reached his first final since winning the 2022 French Open by defeating Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic in a three-set match in Bastad, ahead of the Paris Olympics.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion faced a tough challenge from Ajdukovic, the world number 130, a day after a four-hour quarter-final victory. Despite dropping the opening set, Nadal prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, returning to the final of a tournament he last won in 2005 as a teenager.
“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,” Nadal said.
Nadal, 38, will face Portuguese seventh seed Nuno Borges, who defeated Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-3, 6-4. Nadal aims to win the 93rd singles title of his career, his last victory being the 2022 French Open.
“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,” Nadal said, noting his ranking has dropped to 261 after multiple injuries.
“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. But I’m fighting. I’ve fought during the whole tournament to be where I am today. Matches like yesterday and today help to improve a lot of things on court, so I’m happy with that. Let’s see if I’m able to play a little bit better tomorrow,” he added.
Nadal struggled early against the 23-year-old Ajdukovic, falling 3-0 and a double breakdown in the first set, but recovered with two breaks in the second set after another poor start.
In the third set, Nadal appeared in control with a 3-0 lead but lost his serve twice, echoing a near-costly stumble from Friday. He broke again in the seventh game and resisted two more break points, securing victory with a comfortable hold two games later.
Nadal is using the Bastad event to prepare for the Olympic Games, where tennis will be played on the clay at Roland Garros. He won gold in singles in Beijing 2008 and in doubles in Rio 2016.
Returning to action this week for the first time since a first-round loss at the French Open in late May, Nadal announced he would withdraw from the doubles event with Casper Ruud as a precaution after spending six hours on court over his last two singles matches.
