Rafa Nadal is back in his first tour-level final in over two years! This after defeating Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic in the semi-final (4-6, 6-3, 6-4) in the Nordea Open (or Sweden Open), ATP250 in Båstad, Sweden.
It’s been a great week for the legend and we’ll now see him in the in the 2024 Sweden Open final (watch our vlog from Båstad), and some might remember that he won the Swedish Open as a 19-year-old, back in back in 2005! The last time we saw Rafa in an ATP final was when he claimed the trophy at the French Open in 2022, beating Casper Ruud.
In the big match on Sunday he will face an in-form Nuno Borges who took out Thiago Agustin Tirante in straight sets today, reaching his first ever ATP final.
“Always, it’s a great feeling to be back in a final. I won four matches in a row, something I wasn’t able to make happen since two years ago.” was one of the comments from Rafa after the match.
Nadal vs Borges should be an exciting final and the odds are showing Nadal as quite clear favorite at 4/9 while Borges gives 7/4. If you want to bet on the match we recommend PariMatch for UK bettors.
Nadal vs Borges should be an exciting final and the odds are showing Nadal as quite clear favorite at -225 while Borges gives +175. If you want to bet on the match we recommend FanDuel fur US bettors.
Nadal vs Borges should be an exciting final and the odds are showing Nadal as quite clear favorite at 1.42 while Borges gives 2.75. If you want to bet on the match you can try Cloudbet (crypto) or 22Bet.
Rafa is back
We are many tennis fans, happy to see Rafa playing great tennis again after a tough period. Since his 2022 Roland Garros win, he’s struggled with injuries and his confidence in general, not knowing how long his career will continue.
In Båstad we’ve seen a resilient Nadal playing the kind of “smart” tennis we’re used to watch.
The Spaniard overcame a tough four-hour quarterfinal against Mariano Navone followed by a comeback win in the semifinal against Duje Ajdukovic.
Watch the match point vs Ajdukovic that gave him a place in the Båstad final:
The match point that means Nadal still has the chance to defend his title in Båstad from 2005?#nordeaopen #båstad #tennis #atp pic.twitter.com/Am3tf7T5bQ
— Nordea Open (@NordeaOpen) July 20, 2024
Nuno Borges, at the moment at no 51 in the ATP world rankings and No. 7 seed, will have a tough task against a reborn Nadal. A win would mean a first ATP tour title for the Portuguese.
In the semi’s he defeated Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-3, 6-4, in a match that lasted just a bit over an hour and we saw 82% first-serve points from the 27-year-old.
Their H2H? This is the first time we see these two players meet on the tour.
Rada Nadal vs Nuno Borges – Predictions
A tough match, that’s for sure. It’s hard to know sometimes, what Rafa can achieve lately but in this tournament he’s shown enough that he can win this final, and I believe he will. He’s not at his best level anymore, but his movement has been great in Sweden so far.
Borges will have his chances and moments in the match and I can see him claiming a set, a 2-1 set betting odds for Nadal (maybe another comeback win) at 3.65 might be a good option.
My prediction is that Rafa will claim his 93rd career ATP singles title in Båstad on Sunday!
