Rafa Nadal has put himself in ‘doubles mode’ for the Paris Olympic Games, his great challenge of the farewell season, where he will participate in a pair with Carlos Alcaraz. The tennis player from Manacor continues to fine-tune his form after achieving the second consecutive victory with Casper Ruud in the Bastad tournament (Sweden). In the quarter-finals they beat the Franco-Russian pair Théo Arribage-Roman Safiulin in three sets, 4-6, 6-3 and 10-12, in a very hard-fought duel.
Accumulated fatigue
Casper Ruud, Nadal’s partner, had played three hours earlier against Thiago Monteiro, for an hour and a half
With exactly 10 days to go until the start of the tennis tournament at the Games, Nadal’s preparations are accelerating at the ATP 500 in Bastad. The singles match he will play on Thursday against Cameron Norrie was preceded by the second doubles match in tandem with Casper Ruud. Calendars and schedules are compressed and almost overlap, as the Norwegian experienced when three hours before the doubles match he played his singles match with Thiago Monteiro and lost 6-3 in an hour and a half.
The wear and tear was noticeable, as was Nadal’s (38) lack of rhythm, who had not played until Monday in Bastad after a 49-day break since Roland Garros in June.
The Spanish-Norwegian pair imposed their quality in the first set by 4-6, although they had to overcome an initial 2-1 with two breaks and some moments of good play.
However, fatigue took its toll in the second set, in which Nadal and Ruud lost 6-3, after starting with a 2-0 deficit.
The third and final set was played in the usual super tiebreak system, with 10-12 for Nadal and Ruud, after overcoming an 8-7 deficit by holding on to their serve.
The Spaniard and the Norwegian had made their debut in the doubles tournament on Tuesday, easily beating the second seeds, the Argentine Guido Andreozzi and the Mexican Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela, by 6-1 and 6-4 in 1h19m.
Source: www.lavanguardia.com
