Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud sweep Bastad Open doubles first round in preparation for Olympic Games

Preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have already begun for Rafael Nadal, both for the singles and doubles. At the Bastad Open, participating in both disciplines, he has debuted this Monday together with Casper Ruud in the first round, where the Spanish-Norwegian duo has defeated Argentine Guido Andreozzi and Mexican Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela by 6-1, 6-4.

In the first set, things started very well for Nadal and Ruud. The duo managed to win their first game without any problems, and then they were 15-40 on their opponents' first serve. Despite the fact that the first opportunity was not going to materialize, in the second they got the first break of the match, which they would then consolidate.

Although Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud had 3 break points in the next game, Andreozzi and Reyes-Varela saved all of them to win their first game of the match. 3-1. Then it was the Spaniard and the Norwegian who had to turn around two break opportunities, which they saved to make it 4-1.

That game was going to be very important in the mental aspect, since in the next game Nadal and Ruud again achieved a crucial break that left them 5-1 and with the opportunity to close the first set very soon. In their second set ball, the Spanish-Norwegian duo managed to win the game and take a 6-1 lead.

In the second set, Andreozzi and Reyes-Varela were to suffer a very hard break first. Although they were 40-0 up, the Latin American duo saw how Nadal and Ruud turned the situation around and broke their opponents' serve with 4 consecutive points. They then confirmed the break to take a 2-0 lead, an unbeatable situation to start the set.

Andreozzi and Reyes-Varela cut it to 2-1 to stay in the match. But Nadal and Ruud did not want to waste their advantage, and with an empty set made it 3-1. After the 3-2 of the Latin American pair, the Spaniard and the Norwegian were to suffer their first break against the match, and the set score was 3-3 when suddenly the rain made an appearance, and the match was temporarily suspended;

The match did not take long to resume, and it would do so with Rafa Nadal and Casper Ruud returning the break to their rivals to take a 4-3 lead. With 40-15 in their favor in search of confirming the break, they would have no problems in doing so and were ahead to 5-3 and very close to victory. Andreozzi and Reyes-Varela put the 5-4 with a white game. Nadal and Ruud served to win the match, but again the rain made an appearance, and the duel was briefly suspended. In the return, they finished the match without problems to qualify to the second round.