Rafael Nadal suffers straight sets loss to Nuno Borges in Swedish Open final | Tennis News

Rafael Nadal reached his first ATP Tour final since 2022 at the Swedish Open, but lost in three sets to Portugal’s Nuno Borges; after his 6-3 6-2 victory, an emotional Borges said: “I’ve been longing for this moment for a while”

Rafael Nadal lost the final of the Swedish Open in three sets to Portuguese Nuno Borges.

In Bastad, Borges defeated Nadal 6-3 6-2, closing the match with an ace before falling to his knees and burying his hands in front of his face, a sign of what the victory meant to Borges.

It was Borges’ first title on the ATP Tour. “I don’t know what to say,” he reflected afterwards.

“I’ve been longing for this moment for a while. It’s funny, tennis sometimes doesn’t happen when you expect it to.”

Nadal’s first ATP Tour final since 2022 ended in defeat. The Spanish legend played in the clay-court event to prepare for the Olympic Games at Roland Garros.

The 38-year-old player did not compete in this year’s Wimbledon because he did not want to risk injury when switching from clay to grass and back before the Olympics.

Nadal has been recovering from hip and abdominal injuries for the past 18 months.

“I know we all wanted Rafa to win and part of me wanted that too,” Borges added. “But something even bigger inside me really pushed me through today, through the emotions, through all the ups and downs.

“Again, it wasn’t even about me playing my best tennis today. It was about me coming up in the big moments when I won and I couldn’t have played better. Just really happy overall.

“I really don’t know what to say, I’m very emotional.”

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