Rafael Nadal began the second half of his 2024 clay-court comeback with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Leo Borg in round one of the Nordea Open on Tuesday afternoon. Nadal did not face a single break point while advancing in one hour an 25 minutes.
“Playing in front of a full crowd means a lot to me,” said the Spaniard, who last played at this event in 2005–when he captured the title. “It gives me energy to keep practicing every day. Even in the tougher moments, I have been able to keep going with the help of the team, but of course the fans have a huge impact on that. They give me amazing energy.”
Nadal missed basically all of 2023 and has been sidelined for much of this season. The 38-year-old returned on clay in the spring and played four tournaments, including a fourth-round run a the Madrid Masters. He faced eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev in round one at Roland Garros and lost in straight sets.
Tuesday’s matchup was a notable one for a much different reason. Borg, 21, is the son of former Swedish great Bjorn Borg.
“For me, it has been a huge honor to play against the son of one of the biggest legends in the history of our sport,” Nadal commented. “I think he played quite well; he has a great future in front (of him). I wish him all the very best.”
In the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s immediate future is a showdown against No. 5 seed Cameron Norrie on Thursday. Norrie opened with a 7-6(4), 6-4 defeat of Jozef Kovalik as the British left-hander looks to build on momentum from a third-round effort at Wimbledon (beat Jack Draper, lost to Zverev). Nadal leads the head-to-head series 4-1, including 2-0 on clay.
