Rafael Nadal is in the frame for a bumper pay day just days after being told he’ll never get back to his brilliant best. The Spanish tennis icon reached his first final since the 2022 French Open after rallying from a set down to beat Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic 4-6 6-3 6-4 at the Swedish Open in Bastad.
Nadal arrived in the semi-finals following a four-hour contest with Mariano Navone on Friday, and Ajdukovic took control early on. He was a set and a break of serve-up before Nadal clicked into gear and continued his preparations for the Paris Olympics in impressive fashion.
Nadal triumphed in two hours and 13 minutes to set up a meeting with Portugal’s Nuno Borges, with the winner netting 88,000 euros [around £74,000]. The performance was a morale-booster for the 38-year-old following his first-ever first-round exit at the French Open, the tournament he has owned for so long, and came after downbeat comments from Coco Gauff‘s coach, Brad Gilbert, who reckons Nadal’s best days are behind him.
“He’s probably never going to reach his best level again,” Gilbert told CLAY. “But I think more than anything, all athletes want to be able to go out on their own terms.
“They want to be and decide that you know what maybe it’s time for me to stop so he’s had so much you know you know injuries over the last two years that he probably hasn’t had a period where he’s really felt healthy and so that’s what he wants to know more than anything, before he stops what his game is like when he’s fully healthy.”
Nadal was in an upbeat mood following his hard-fought win over the hard-hitting Ajdukovic. He said: “I think it was a tough match.
“My opponent had one of the best backhands that I played against. It was very, very difficult, honestly, but I found a way to survive and be through to that final after a long time without being in a final.
“Always it is a great feeling to be back in a final. I have won four matches in a row, something I was not able to make happen since two years ago. I am fighting during the whole tournament to be where I am today.
“I think matches like yesterday’s [against Navone], like today’s, help to improve a lot of things on court. I am happy with that, and let’s see if I am able to play a little bit better tomorrow.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk