Two decades after competing at the Olympic Games for the first time, Rafael Nadal will defend the national jersey in Paris at his beloved Roland Garros. Nadal is playing in Bastad this week, entering the singles and doubles draw and making a winning start with his partner Casper Ruud.
Rafa will face the young Swede Leo Borg in the first round, embracing his first singles match since the early exit at Roland Garros. Nadal has been training well lately in Mallorca and Greece, heading to Bastad with positive vibes.
Rafa is excited about the Olympic Games in two weeks, admitting he can not wait to return to Roland Garros. The 22-time Major winner missed almost the entire 2023 season after experiencing a severe hip injury at the Australian Open.
The Spaniard made a return in Brisbane in the first week of 2024, passing two rivals before blowing three match points against Jordan Thompson.
They battled for three and a half hours, and Rafa’s body could not endure the effort, feeling the pain around his troubled hip and skipping the Australian Open. Nadal went home and started preparations for the upcoming events in Doha and Indian Wells.
Still, he missed them after an abdominal issue, struggling to serve and staying on the practice court. Rafa could not recover for Monte Carlo, and his first match in 100 days came in Barcelona. The veteran earned one win before reaching the last 16 at the Madrid Masters.
Nadal fell to Hubert Hurkacz in Rome, heading to his 19th Roland Garros with low confidence.
Rafael Nadal is competing in Bastad ahead of the Olympic Games.
It became even worse when he drew world no. 4 Alexander Zverev in the first round! Two years after their epic semi-final battle, Zverev ousted Nadal 6-3, 7-6, 6-3, producing Rafa’s earliest Roland Garros defeat. The German denied nine out of 11 break points, overcoming a deficit in the second set and sealing the deal in the third.
Nadal struggled behind the initial shot, giving away 45% of the points and losing serve six times from the massive 18 opportunities presented to his opponent.
Alexander started the encounter with a break before delivering another at 5-3.
Rafa responded nicely in the second set, moving in front and serving for the set at 5-4. However, he lost serve at love, keeping Zverev in contention and dropping the tie break 7-5 to find himself two sets to love down.
World no.4 shifted into a higher gear in the second part of the third set, moving over the top and sending Rafa packing. Nadal is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, clinching the singles gold in Beijing and adding the doubles gold in Rio eight years later.
“I have had a good month of training after Roland Garros. I have not played many competitive sets, but I had a couple against Etcheverry in Greece. I’m happy to compete in Bastad after almost 20 years, and I can not wait to return to Roland Garros for the Olympic Games in two weeks. It gives me extra motivation,” Rafael Nadal said.
