Rafael Nadal will play an ATP 250 event ahead of the Summer Olympics to prepare for the tournament, which will be played at Roland Garros.
This year's Summer Olympics are unique due to the surface they're played on. The Olympic tennis will be played on clay in 2024 as the iconic Roland Garros venue will play host to some of the best players in the world.
Among them will be Nadal, whose recent return at that venue didn't go as planned. He lost to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev in the first round, but he'll be happy to go back and play again.
To better prepare for the Olympic tournament, the 22-time major winner has signed up for an ATP 250 event in Bastad, Sweden. The Bastad Open is no stranger to some good players, as Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev have stopped by in years past.
The event will run shortly before the Olympics, starting on July 15th, a day after Wimbledon, a tournament that Nadal will not play, and running until the 21st, and will likely serve as a tuneup for the Spanish legend.
He'll be able to test himself in a competitive environment, which obviously beats simple practice matches, in which he regularly excels. There 38-year-old may try to convince Carlos Alcaraz to play doubles with him in the Swedish city, as they need to practice together ahead of the Olympics, but that seems unlikely so far.
Alcaraz was asked about it in a recent interview and he admitted that he doesn't think it will happen. According to Alcaraz, there was no time to team up prior to the Games.
As for Nadal, he'll make his tennis return in Bastad, bringing some legendary clay-court action to fans in Sweden, in his case, very likely one last time before he eventually retires.
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