Nadal shows True Colours by Praising Borges

Rafael Nadal reached the 2024 Bastad Open final, but a subpar performance saw him lose to Nuno Borges in two sets. Despite the defeat, Nadal’s overall experience at Bastad was positive. The Spaniard, playing his first matches since his Roland Garros exit, made the final in singles and the semi-final in doubles at the ATP 250 tournament.

Nadal had been practicing consistently but needed match play to truly gauge his form. The 38-year-old 22-time major winner accomplished his goal by playing several matches and generally performing well.

However, by the final, Nadal was drained from spending over six hours on court in his previous two matches. Facing a younger, inspired Borges, who was playing in his maiden final, Nadal struggled from the start. He admitted to the media post-match that his poor performance was the reason for his loss. “I have a lot of experience and I knew that things weren’t going to be easy. I just have to accept everything that comes and keep working to improve. I played very badly and I’m sad about it, I find it difficult to play worse than I did today,” Nadal said.

Nadal noted his fatigue as a key factor in his performance. His movement was slow, and he was late on many shots, resulting in over 20 unforced errors in just 17 games. His serving was also below par, allowing Borges to dominate returns.

Despite his disappointment, Nadal praised Borges as a deserving winner. “I felt drained of energy, something that can be normal because I hadn’t competed for a long time for several consecutive days, and I also had long and intense matches. Nuno deserved to win, he played much better than me,” he remarked.

Reflecting on the week, Nadal acknowledged the positives. Testing his body physically and assessing his game were crucial steps. Looking ahead, he will now focus on the Olympics, hoping to make a mark on the courts where he has previously found great success.