Rafael Nadal confirmed his withdrawal from the doubles competition at the Swedish Open just minutes after reaching the singles final with victory over Duje Ajdukovic. The Spaniard battled back from a set down to reach the final in Bastad, where he will face either Thiago Agustin Tirante or Nuno Borges.
Nadal got off to a slow start, dropping the opening set as Ajdukovic came flying out of the blocks to draw first blood. He went on to find his feet in the second set before holding his nerve in the third to seal a 4-6 6-3 6-4 triumph.
In his post-match press conference, Nadal confirmed that he would no longer be taking part in the doubles event alongside Casper Ruud. They were due to face Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos in the semi-finals on Saturday afternoon but Nadal has decided to save his energy for the singles final.
The 38-year-old played more than six hours of tennis across Friday and Saturday, with his quarter-final victory over Mariano Navone also going the distance. He will be desperate to finish his Swedish Open campaign by lifting the trophy as he seeks his first ATP title since winning the French Open two years ago.
Nadal secured a well-earned victory over Ajdukovic with an encouraging display in spite of his slow start to proceedings. He claimed 13 more points than his rival, timing his shots nicely and capitalising on the errors from the other side of the net.
Ajdukovic started well but made a number of avoidable mistakes as the match progressed, allowing Nadal to gain the upper hand. The Manacor native converted all six of his break points to emerge on top after three sets and book his place in Sunday’s final.
Quizzed on how he felt after reaching his first ATP final in over two years, Nadal said: “It’s always a great feeling to be in a final. I won four matches in a row. I wasn’t able to make that happen since two years ago. A lot of things happened. That’s the truth.
“Still in this process of recovering a lot of things I lost because I had a very important hip surgery almost one year ago, so things aren’t going that easy, but I’m fighting. I fought the whole tournament to be where I am today.
“Matches like yesterday and today help to improve a lot of things on court. Happy with that. Let’s see if I’m able to play a little better tomorrow.
