Nadal receives an invitation in Bastad | ATP Tour

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Nadal will compete in Bastad as a boost to the Olympic Games

The tournament will take place from July 15 to 21

June 13, 2024

The clay court season is still alive for Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard confirmed this Wednesday his participation in the Nordea Open in Bastad, whose main draw will take place from July 15 to 21. With the aim of arriving in the best conditions at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, held on the clay of Roland Garros, the former world No. 1 will prioritize his work on the surface and will not compete on the grass tour.

“During my press conference at Roland Garros they asked me about my schedule this summer and since then I have been training on clay,” Nadal explained through social networks. “Yesterday it was announced that I will compete in the Paris Olympic Games, the last Olympic event of my career. With this goal, we believe that the most appropriate thing for my body is not to change surfaces and continue working on clay until then,” he continued.

“For this reason, I will not be competing in The Championships this season at Wimbledon. It saddens me that I will not be able to enjoy the fantastic atmosphere this year in a great tournament that will always be in my heart, along with all the British fans who have always shown me great love. I will miss you so much”.

“In order to prepare for the Olympic Games, I will play the tournament in Bastad. It is an event that I have competed in previously in my career, where I have been able to enjoy both on and off the track. “I hope to see you all there!” concluded the Spaniard, who competed in three editions at the beginning of his professional career, reaching the quarterfinals in the 2003 and 2004 seasons before winning the trophy in 2005, weeks after win his first Roland Garros title.

After spending the entire 2023 blank, after undergoing psoas surgery and an old hip problem, Nadal returned at the beginning of the year at the Brisbane tournament, where he suffered a small muscle tear in the area that had kept him away from the competition the previous season. On his return to the European clay court tour, the Spaniard managed to chain four tournaments of increasing competitiveness, tanning his body on the courts of Barcelona, ​​Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros.

The Nordea Open will have one of the most powerful teams in its history, with figures such as Jannik Sinner, current No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud, recent champions of the tournament, among the main candidates for the cup. With maximum quality standards, the Swedish event has enormous prestige among players, having received the ATP 250 Tournament of the Year award up to 11 times, including the one awarded last season.

Since its establishment on the ATP Tour circuit in the 1974 season, the Bastad clay court has been a scene of great success for Spanish tennis. A total of eight La Armada players have lifted the individual trophy on Swedish clay, leaving in history the triumphs of Manuel Orantes (1975), Emilio Sánchez-Vicario (1986), Carlos Moyà (2002), Rafael Nadal (2005) , Tommy Robredo (2006, 2008), David Ferrer (2007, 2012, 2017), Nicolás Almagro (2010) and Albert Ramos (2016).