Tennis: Rafael Nadal races to doubles win alongside Ruud in Bastad return

Bastad (Sweden), July 16 (IANS) Rafael Nadal won a match at the Nordea Open here after a gap of 19 years, winning a men’s doubles match at the event on Monday. The Spaniard teamed up with Casper Ruud to notch a 6-1, 6-4 win over second seeds Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Reyes-Varela on Monday afternoon at the Nordea Open. Competing at the ATP 250 for the first time since he lifted the singles title as a 19-year-old in 2005, Nadal immediately looked at home on the Swedish clay.

With both the Spaniard and Ruud striking their groundstrokes powerfully throughout, the wild card pairing powered to a 79-minute win that was twice interrupted by passing rain showers.

It converted four of the 10 break points it earned in the process, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The 22-time major champion Nadal and the No. 9 in the ATP Rankings Ruud will take on Mariano Navone and Cameron Norrie or Theo Arribage and Roman Safiullin in the second round.

Monday’s victory was Nadal’s first competitive match since he fell to Alexander Zverev on May 27 in the opening round at Roland Garros. The 22-time Grand Slam champion will take on Leo Borg, son of ATP legend Bjorn Borg, in his opening singles match.

“It’s a pleasure playing with a good friend and an amazing player like Casper here in Bastad,” said Nadal in the pair’s on-court interview as reported by ATP Tour on its website.

“Personally, I am happy and I think it was a good match. We played quite well in the first time we played together and I’m happy to be back here after almost 20 years,” said Nadal. “I have great memories from this place from 2003, 2004, and 2005, so I am enjoying this week and hopefully can keep going.” – IANS