Casper Ruud does not play doubles often, but when Rafael Nadal asked him to, he wasn't going to say no.
The two have known each other for years, as the Norwegian was part of the Spaniard's Tennis Academy. Their games share visible similarities, and they both prefer to play tennis on clay above all other surfaces.
Both are in Bastad this week, and they teamed up to play doubles at the ATP 250 tournament. This is likely to help Nadal get into the swing of things as he's set to play doubles at the Olympic Games with Carlos Alcaraz.
The 38-year-old initially hoped to lure Alcaraz to play doubles either in Bastad or Hamburg, but the 21-year-old was busy, playing in the 2024 Wimbledon Championships final.
As a result, Nadal opted to team up with Ruud, and it was a fruitful first match as they cruised comfortably. Speaking at the event, Ruud admitted that their team-up was quite random, but he didn't really think too much. When somebody like Nadal asks, it's pretty simple to say yes.
"It was a bit random really. He's probably going to play Olympics with Alcaraz, but he was a bit busy this weekend [playing Wimbledon final], and won't be playing here in Bastad."
"So then he sent a text and wondered if we should play. I said yes quite quickly. I don't usually play doubles too much, but when Rafa asks, it's easy to say yes."
In their first match, they demonstrated quite a bit of skill, winning 6-1, 6-4 over the second-seeded team Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, and it's not unthinkable for them to make a deep run, perhaps even win the trophy.
Both are focused on singles, though, as Nadal will start his campaign against Leo Borg, the son of legendary player Bjorn Borg.
On the other hand, Ruud is last year's finalist, and also former champion at the event, having won it in 2021, so it's a place where he returns often, and would like to continue doing that in the future.
"It just really feels more and more like home every year you return. Everything looks almost exactly the same every time you come back, so that's what's really great... The cool thing about becoming an established player, that you can return to the same places year after year."
"So Bastad is no exception, I have good memories, and some worse memories where things didn't go so well. But of course, the victory in 2021 was big for me, and the final last year was also a good tournament. We come a long way because we want to do well, of course it would have been cool to get another good result here in Bastad this year."
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