(Reuters) – Former world number one Rafa Nadal marked his return to singles tennis with a 6-3 6-4 win over Leo Borg, the son of Swedish great Bjorn Borg, to reach the last 16 in Bastad as he continues his preparations for the Paris Olympics.
Nadal’s last singles match was his first-round defeat by Alexander Zverev at the French Open in May.
The 38-year-old, a record 14-times French Open winner, then skipped Wimbledon to prepare for the Olympic tennis tournaments, which will take place at Roland Garros.
On Tuesday, Nadal claimed his eighth win of the season on the ATP Tour in an hour and 25 minutes, defeating 21-year-old Borg to set up a meeting with British fifth seed Cameron Norrie on Thursday.
“For me, it has been a huge honour to play against the son of one of the biggest legends in the history of our sport,” said Nadal, who won his first round doubles match in the competition alongside Norway’s Casper Ruud on Monday.
“I think he played quite well, he has a great future in front. I wish him all the very best. I haven’t been playing a lot of tennis for the past few months.
“Playing in front of a full crowd means a lot to me. It gives me energy to keep practising 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.”
Nadal missed almost all of 2023 with a hip problem and his comeback earlier this year was stalled by a muscle tear, before small niggles affected his preparation for the French Open.
The Spaniard, who won an Olympic singles gold medal in 2008 and a doubles gold in 2016, will play in the singles at Paris and team up with French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz in the doubles.
The tennis tournament at the Olympics will take place from July 27-Aug. 4 at Roland Garros.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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