Rafael Nadal beats Leo Borg, son of tennis great Bjorn, in opening round of Swedish Open singles 6-3 6-4; Nadal will face Britain's Cameron Norrie in the second round in Bastad on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Tennis; Nadal also teamed up with Casper Ruud to win in doubles
Tuesday 16 July 2024 22:58, UK
Rafael Nadal returned to singles action with victory over Bjorn Borg's son Leo at the Swedish Open, live on Sky Sports.
The pairing of the names of the two best men's clay-courters of the Open era provoked excitement within tennis, although 21-year-old Leo appears highly unlikely to have a career anything like that of his father.
Ranked 461, Leo was given a wild card for the tournament in Bastad and competed well against his illustrious opponent before succumbing to a 6-3 6-4 defeat.
"Great feelings," said Nadal in his on-court interview.
"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.
"I think he played quite well, he has a future in front of him so I wish him all the very best."
Nadal was playing his first singles match since an opening-round loss to Alexander Zverev at the French Open in May.
The 38-year-old decided to stay on clay rather than risk further injury by switching to grass and has been practising with the goal of being at his best for the Paris Olympics later this month.
Nadal should have a stiffer test next against British number two Cameron Norrie, who defeated Jozef Kovalik in the first round on Monday.
Nadal and Norrie will face off live on Sky Sports Tennis on Thursday.
Nadal was also included on the US Open entry list released on Tuesday via a protected ranking, although that doesn't necessarily mean he will compete in the year's last Grand Slam tournament.
The Spaniard has been dealing with injuries the past two seasons and playing sporadically. He is participating in his first tournament in since May this week in Bastad.
The 38-year-old Nadal won four of his 22 Grand Slam titles at the US Open - where play begins on August 26, live on Sky Sports Tennis - in 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019. He sat out the event in three of the past four years, losing in the fourth round in 2022.
He is expected to compete at the Paris Olympics, where tennis starts on July 27 and is being held at Roland Garros. But it's not clear how much - or even if - Nadal will continue to play after that.
The draw to set the brackets for the US Open will be August 22.
In the run-up to the final Grand Slam of 2024 - the US Open - you can watch all of the biggest tennis stars in action live on Sky Sports as they compete across the hard-court season.
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