Rafael Nadal lost his first final in two years on Sunday when the Spaniard lost 6-3 6-2 to Portugal’s Nuno Borges at the clay-court Bastad Open. The Spanish tennis great showed signs that he is returning to form in Scandinavia by making an impressive run to the final, just a week before tennis at the Olympic Games begins on clay in Paris. But Nadal, instead of celebrating his 64th title on the surface and his first since Roland Garros in 2022, was dominated by seventh seed Borges as he struggled to find fluency in his serve and groundstrokes. “Many congratulations to Nuno,” said Nadal.
“You played really well all week, so you deserve this more than anyone here. Congratulations and enjoy your moment, it’s always special to win a title.”
“Today wasn’t my best day, but all the credit goes to Nuno. He played very well and it was very difficult for me, very well.”
Borges was the first to advance in the match when he broke the Spaniard’s serve to make it 3-1, with Nadal saving break points before hitting a forehand down the line.
But the 14-time French Open winner immediately hit back at Borges’ serve, earning two break-back points before the Portuguese hit a forehand into the net from inside the service box.
But neither player was able to take the lead in the first set, as Borges quickly took a 0-40 lead in the following service game, converting his second break point with a perfectly executed drop shot.
Nadal was struggling to find his first serve, but managed to hold just his second service game in the opening set to force Borges to serve once again. The world number 51 maintained the courage to do just that.
The 38-year-old showed signs of his old serve in the draw in the first game of the second set with a strong forehand winner down the line, before finally holding, but that was one of the few highlights for Nadal that day.
Borges then made it 2-2 by breaking Nadal’s serve for the first time in the second set and fourth time overall to move ahead.
The 27-year-old won the next three games, sealing his first career title in his first match against the former world number one with an ace.
“I don’t know what to say. I think I’ve been wanting this moment for a while now,” Borges said in the post-match interview.
“It’s crazy, in tennis sometimes it doesn’t happen when you expect it. I know we all wanted Rafa to win, a part of me wanted that too, but something even bigger inside of me really pushed today… I’m really happy overall. I really don’t know what to say, I’m so emotional.”
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