Rafael Nadal returned to the tennis courts with a doubles win at the 2024 Bastad Open, teaming up with Casper Ruud to cruise easily in the first round.
The last time Nadal stood on a tennis court was back at Roland Garros, where Alexander Zverev beat him in the opening round. His return happened at the ATP 250 tournament in Bastad, not in singles but in doubles.
The Spaniard signed up to play doubles with Ruud to get back into shape and practice the doubles for the upcoming Paris Olympics, where he'll play with Carlos Alcaraz, who just won the Wimbledon Championships.
He hoped to have Alcaraz with him ahead of the Olympics in Bastad, but the 21-year-old couldn't make it because of obvious reasons. Ruud stepped up, and they looked sharp together, winning the match in two simple sets.
The first set took only 30 minutes, and they crushed their opponents, the second-seeded Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, 6-1. They simply played better in the crucial moments, which is what it mostly comes down to in doubles.
The second set opened with an early break for the Norwegian-Spanish team, but they lost the break, after which the match was briefly stopped by rain. Upon return, Nadal and Ruud took the lead again, breaking for a 4-3 lead, but once again, when they were about to serve for the match at 5-4, rain stopped the match.
The match quickly resumed, and Nadal and Ruud were able to win the match in two simple sets, 6-1, 6-4. after the match, they were in a good mood, as the younger of the two joked about frequent stoppages.
"He’s getting old. So I’m not sure how his body feels having to start and stop all the time."
Nadal, who previously played in Bastad, having won the tournament in 2005 and reaching the quarter-finals in 2003 and 2004, was also in a good mood after the match, remembering his results from two decades ago.
"It’s a pleasure playing with a good friend and amazing player like Casper here. It was a good match. We played quite well for the first time playing together. Happy to be back here after almost 20 years."
"It’s a beautiful thing for me. I have great memories from this place from 2003, 2004, and 2005. I’m enjoying this week and hopefully I’ll keep going."
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