2005 champion Rafael Nadal will face Portuguese seventh seed Nuno Borges in Sunday’s Swedish Open final in Bastad. This final will be the first-ever showdown between Rafa and Nico.
Date: July 21, 2024
Match time: Not before 2 PM local time / 8 AM EDT – New York, Montreal / 1 PM BST – United Kingdom / 2 PM CET – Spain, France, Germany, Italy / 2 PM SAST – South Africa / 5:30 PM IST – New Delhi / 10 PM AEST – Melbourne. To convert to your local time, use this website.
Rafa is on a nine-match winning streak in Bastad, where he lifted the trophy on his previous appearance in 2005. Nico is the 4th Portuguese player who reached an ATP Tour final – Joao Sousa (12), Pedro Sousa (1), and Fred Gil (1).
The final will be Rafa’s 131st tour final, and 72nd on clay – it is the second-most of any player on the surface in the Open Era, trailing only Guillermo Vilas (76) over that time period.
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
Glad you are focussing on final rather than playing doubles also. Enjoy the match, Rafa,
all the best👏👍💪🍀🎾❤️
It won’t be easy but I believe in you Rafa!
Rafa will play his best tennis and win in straight sets. Looking forward to Rafa biting the trophy! 😆🙂😀🥳😄
At first glance Nuno Borges does not seem like a big threat to Rafa. He has a losing record for his career and for 2024. This week Borges did not have to face a seeded player and he beat a Lucky Loser and a Qualifer.
But all of his matches this week were won in straight sets except one. At the 2024 AO he reached the fourth round and upset a top 20 player, Grigor Dimitrov. He also reached the fourth round at Rome so he has played pretty well on clay. Borges obviously will be super motivated against Rafa.
Rafa is even more motivated. It could be a tough match but I’m going with Rafa in straight sets.
Go Rafa! Vamos!