Rafael Nadal teamed with Casper Ruud to notch a 6-1 6-4 Swedish Open doubles victory in opposition to second seeds Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Reyes-Varela on Monday in a profitable return, dwell on Sky Sports activities.
Competing on the ATP 250 for the primary time since he lifted the singles title as a 19-year-old in 2005, Nadal instantly checked out residence on the Swedish clay.
The victory was Nadal’s first aggressive match since he fell to Alexander Zverev on Might 27 within the opening spherical at Roland Garros. The 22-time Grand Slam champion will tackle Leo Borg, son of ATP legend Bjorn Borg, in his opening singles match on Tuesday, dwell on Sky Sports activities Tennis.
“It’s a pleasure playing with a good friend and an amazing player like Casper here in Bastad,” mentioned Nadal within the pair’s on-court interview. “Personally, I am happy and I think it was a good match. We played quite well in the first time we played together and I’m happy to be back here after almost 20 years.
“I’ve nice recollections from this place from 2003, 2004 and 2005, so I’m having fun with this week and hopefully can hold going.”
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Nadal gained a ‘mind-boggling’ level after he powered down a sensational forehand on the Swedish Open in his return
With each the Spaniard and Ruud hanging their groundstrokes powerfully all through, the wildcard pairing powered to a 79-minute win that was twice interrupted by passing rain showers.
The 22-time main champion Nadal and the world No 8 ranked Ruud will tackle Mariano Navone and Britain’s Cameron Norrie or Theo Arribage and Roman Safiullin within the second spherical.
Nadal made a successful return to tennis, having final performed on Might 27 in Roland Garros defeat to Alexander Zverev
“Like Rafa said, I think it was a good match. When it comes to the rain delays, I’m used to it more than Rafa, being from Norway and he is from Spain,” mentioned Ruud.
The Norwegian light-heartedly added: “He is getting old so I’m not sure how his body feels when he has to stop and start all the time, but he did well. We played good doubles and it was a lot of fun to share the court with Rafa as always.”
Britain’s Norrie by way of to singles second spherical with victory
Britain’s Cam Norrie is thru to the second spherical of the singles on the Swedish Open, having defeated Slovakia’s Jozef Kovalik 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 on Monday.
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Cameron Norrie beat Jozef Kovalik in straight units to succeed in the second spherical of the Swedish Open
The fifth seed strikes by way of to the following spherical in Bastad, and can face the winner of Nadal or Borg in that conflict.
Norrie has endured a disappointing 2024 thus far, falling to fourth spherical (Australian Open), first spherical (French Open) and third spherical (Wimbledon) exits on the Grand Slams, whereas additionally failing to get previous the third spherical of any ATP Masters 1000 occasion.
The 28-year-old additionally misplaced his place as British No 1 to Jack Draper. He’s in search of a fourth ATP 250 sequence title of his profession thus far, although his most up-to-date title got here in February 2023.
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