On Sunday, July 21, Rafael Nadal, the Spanish tennis star, lost the final of the Swedish Open in Bastad in straight sets 3-6, 2-6 against Nuno Borges of Portugal. With this tough loss, the 38-year-old’s wait for his first title on the ATP tour extended further since winning the French Open over two years ago.
The road to the final of the Swedish Open was quite a tough one for Rafael Nadal after he had to endure a four-hour thriller against Mariano Navone of Argentina in the quarter-final. The semi-final versus Duje Ajdukovic of Croatia was yet another three-set match, which prompted the Spaniard to withdraw his name from the doubles semi-final alongside Casper Rudd.
Rafael Nadal loses Swedish Open final on return
But the extra time to prepare for the Swedish Open final against the seventh seed, Nuno Borges, didn’t work for Rafael Nadal. He went on to concede five breaks of serve, without managing to serve an ace throughout the entire match, which proved to be more than enough for his opponent to win.
The Swedish Open was the first ATP tour title for Nuno Borges, the world number 51, in his tennis career. The 27-year-old also became the second man from Portugal to win an ATP title after Joao Sousa.
We all wanted Rafa to win, a part of me wished that too: Nuno Borges
After his epic victory, Nuno Borges was quoted as saying in the post-match interview, “I don’t know what to say. I think I was wishing for this moment for a while already. 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. Through all the emotions, through all the ups and downs.”