Nadal beaten in first tour final for 2 years

Rafa Nadal suffered a setback in his Paris 2024 Olympics preparations on Sunday, as he was beaten 6-3, 6-2 in the Swedish Open final by Portuguese seventh seed Nuno Borges.

The 38-year-old Spaniard was playing his first title match since his 2022 French Open triumph, but saw his serve broken five times in the one hour and 27-minute contest, as Borges won his maiden tour final.

Making a first appearance at the ATP Tour 250 event since winning the singles as a 19-year-old in 2005, Nadal was warming up for his tilt at another Olympic medal at the Paris Games.

"Many congratulations to Nuno. You've been playing great during the whole week, so you deserve it more than anyone else here. It's always special winning a title," the 22-time Grand Slam champion said.

"I have been here for the week enjoying this amazing place. I really had fun on court, played some very long matches. Today wasn't my best day, but all the credit to Nuno. He played very well and it was so difficult for me, so well done."

Nadal missed almost all of 2023 with a hip problem, and his comeback earlier this year was stalled by a muscle tear, before small physical issues affected his preparation for the French Open, where he suffered a first-round exit.

The record 14-time French Open winner then skipped Wimbledon to prepare for the Olympic tennis tournament, which will take place at Roland Garros from July 27 to Aug 4.

Nadal won an Olympic singles gold medal in Beijing in 2008 and doubles gold at Rio 2016.

He will team up with four-time major winner, 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, in the doubles at Paris 2024.

Borges, 27, sealed a maiden career title in his first-ever match-up against the former world No 1 with an ace.

"I don't know what to say. I think I was wishing for this moment for a while already," said Borges in his post-match interview.

"It's crazy, in tennis it doesn't happen when you expect it, sometimes. 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. I'm just really happy. I really don't know what to say, I'm very emotional."

Agencies