Tennis fans the world over will always flock to catch a glimpse of Rafael Nadal, in what is widely expected to be his final year on tour.
The Spaniard, who has dominated the sport for two decades now, has really struggled with various fitness issues in recent years, resulting in his powers waning and his absence from numerous big tournaments.
But, having featured sparingly throughout the clay-court season, and opted out of Wimbledon, we are now seeing what appears to be a fully fit Rafael Nadal ready to thrive in the upcoming Olympic Games.
It helps that his partnership with Casper Ruud has proven so instantly prolific, even if they admitted their own fortune just yesterday.
Casper Ruud reflects on playing doubles with Rafael Nadal
Speaking immediately after their win, as they stumbled into the semi-finals of the doubles in Bastad, it was Ruud who reflected on the result.
After all, it was far from smooth sailing, especially after their straight-sets triumph in their opening-round clash.
Having won the first set in yesterday’s match, they seemed on track for another easy win, but losing the second to send it to a match tiebreak added to the nervousness.
Yet, despite facing two match points, they still ran out winners 6-4, 3-6, 12-10.
The Norwegian tennis player then had the following to say, first referencing his first-round defeat in the Bastad singles draw: ‘When you cannot win singles you have to try to win doubles. It was not the best beginning of the day but a very nice way to finish the day for me.
‘Winning alongside Rafa was a special doubles today. We saved a match point so a bit lucky, and we look forward to the next match.’
This comes after Ruud joked to Nadal on court about his seniority after their first doubles win together.
Rafael Nadal is looking GOOD ahead of the Olympics
Moving back onto clay after Wimbledon is a tactic that is not often seen on the tennis calendar, but things are not normal this year.
After all, the Olympics is set to start very soon, and given it is hosted in Paris, it made perfect sense for Philippe Chatrier and its surrounding stadiums to play host to the tennis portion of the event.
A prospect that will have piqued the interests of Nadal, Iga Swiatek and a few other clay-court specialists, attention had to turn to preparing players’ bodies for this shift in surface, going from the notoriously slippy and dangerous grass to the more gentle clay.
Nadal opted to skip Wimbledon in order to further his preparation, and it must be said that he is looking great thus far in Bastad.
Suffering from a bit of a slow start against Leo Borg, he eventually came through and showed glimpses of the remarkable talent that has led him to 22 Grand Slam titles and Olympic gold already.
However, perhaps more excitingly, the doubles partnership he is striking up with Ruud bodes well for his upcoming Olympic combination with Carlos Alcaraz.
His reflexes remain as sharp as ever, and his mastery of the tennis ball allows him to place shots deep or with enough of an angle to bypass players on the doubles court.
It really bodes well for the 38-year-old ahead of this summer’s games.
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