“I had good feelings from training but I haven’t been able to transfer it to the games. The level of play is far from what I have in training. I have to play much better to be competitive.” Rafa Nadal was not happy after the final of the Bastad tournament which he lost to the Portuguese Nuno Borges 6-3 and 6-2although it marked his return to a final after more than two years marred by injuries.
The Balearic Islands continue to adjust their setup for the Paris Games, and on Swedish soil took another step after winning four games in a rowsomething he has not achieved since Wimbledon in 2022, when he reached the semifinals and withdrew due to injury before a match against Nick Kyrgios, who led him to star in the biggest increase of the week in the ATP rankings.
Nadal rose 100 positions and from 261st to 161st placebecame the ninth best Spaniard in the classification, after Carlos Alcaraz (3), Alejandro Davidovich (43), Pedro Martínez (45), Roberto Carballés (51), Jaume Munar (65), Roberto Bautista (74), Albert Ramos ( 124) and Oriol Roca (158).
Nadal arrived in Paris, with the whole horizon before him. “There were some great moments this week. This time there weren’t too many good moments. But it was a positive week“, Nadal indicated at the end of the match that he had not reached the final since Roland Garros 2022 and had not won four games in a row.
“I don’t think I will ever play here again but it was a privilege to stay. Thank you for everything“said the former world number one who now begins his journey to Paris for his great cause, the 2024 Games.
Source: La Verdad
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