ATP Bastad: Nadal overcomes Ajdukovic to reach first final in two years
Into his 131st ATP final, the Spaniard will face off against Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante or Portuguese Nuno Borges, the No 7 seed, for the title on Sunday
Rafael Nadal, Bastad 2024
Image Credit: Zuma / Panoramic
The King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, is through to yet another final on his favourite surface but this one is his first since June 2022 when he won the Roland-Garros title for an incredible 14th time.
Since then, the Spaniard has had a torrid time with injuries; playing only one tournament in 2023 and just five in 2024 prior to this week.
Despite playing far below his best level, Nadal was good enough on Saturday to beat Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the Bastad Open to advance to the championship match.
Ajdukovic leads by a set and a break
The 23-year-old Ajdukovic, ranked No 130 in the world, was the one to get off to a flying start, breaking Nadal’s first two service games to lead 3-0. Although the Spaniard got one break back, the 23-year-old Croat held on to win the first set 6-4.
Ajdukovic broke again in the first game of the second set and looked set to put himself in a winning position.
Nadal fights back to win next two sets
But that’s where Nadal’s fight back began!! The 22-time Grand Slam champion broke right back to level the second set at 1-1 and then broke again in the sixth game. Nadal held on to his break to win the second 6-3 and send the semi-final into a deciding third set.
This time, it was the Spaniard, currently ranked No 261 in the world, who broke twice to get off to a 3-0 lead before Ajdukovic fought back to level the match at 3-3 in the decider. The Spaniard, who played a marathon four-hour quarter-final on Friday, managed to break again for a 4-3 lead and then saved two break points to hold and go up 5-3.
Nadal then held his next service game comfortably to complete the 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 14 minutes to advance to Sunday’s final where he will face the winner of the semi-final between Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante and Portuguese Nuno Borges, the No 7 seed, next.
The 38-year-old Spaniard won against Swede wildcard Leo Borg (6-3, 6-4), No 5 seed Cameron Norrie (6-4, 6-4) and Argentine Mariano Navone, the No 4 seed (6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-5) ahead of his win today.
Earlier in the week, Ajdukovic, ranked No 130, defeated Frenchman Luca Van Assche (6-3, 6-3), Russian Pavel Kotov, the No 8 seed (7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3) and Brazilian Thiago Monteiro (6-2, 4-6, 6-4).
Bastad ATP 250, other semi-final match (Båstads tennisstadion, clay, EUR 579,320):
- Thiago Agustin Tirante vs. Nuno Borges
