Rafael Nadal has said it would have been “difficult” to have performed worse than the 22-time Grand Slam champion did in his straight-sets defeat to world number 51 Nuno Borges in the Swedish Open final.
Nadal’s 131st ATP Tour decider – his first since the 2022 French Open – ended in a 6-3 6-2 loss to an opponent taking part in his first final, leaving the 38-year-old facing a period of introspection before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games tennis tournament starts on July 27.
“He played much better than me,” Nadal said after the setback in Bastad. “I feel sad that I played that badly in a final.
“I should be able to play much, much better than I did. It would be difficult to play worse but I have to give credit to him: he did a lot of things well. He deserved it.”
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Nadal is expected to retire this year after a succession of long-term injury problems which have made the Spaniard a peripheral figure on the tour.
His 14 titles in Paris make him the most successful player in the history of Roland Garros, where he will return for a campaign which will include a doubles partnership with compatriot and newly-crowned Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Defeat in the first round of this year’s French Open was Nadal’s only Grand Slam appearance since he reached the second round of the Australian Open in January 2023.
We would like to thank Rafael Nadal for an outstanding week, from the first moment to the last you made Båstad vibrate.
We are proud to have played a small part in the beginning as well as the end of your unparalleled career.
We have been with you, we can never lose you💙 PIC.TWITTER.COM/WWRKNG1L03
— Nordea Open (@NordeaOpen) JULY 21, 2024
Nadal injuries: ‘No damage’
“I don’t have damage, which is important,” said Nadal. “Mentally and physically, I’m used to playing for four days in a row and playing long matches.
“I need to find the reasons why I played that way. I played a final – that’s positive – and I was able to play long matches.
“I can’t say it’s a bad result [overall] because it was my first final in a long time. Even with victories, I was not able to show [my best] during the competition. I need to analyse that.”
Borges: Nadal ‘wanted to win’
Portuguese Borges said he had not “processed” the result, having “basically put a blindfold” over the presence of Nadal on the other side of the court.
“There was a lot on the line for me and maybe not that much for him, but I’m sure he really wanted to win as well,” added the 27-year-old.
