AAP Tennis

Nadal sees off Bjorn Borg's son Leo in return to action

By AAP Newswire

Jul 17, 2024

Rafael Nadal, Leo Borg — Rafael Nadal and Leo Borg shake hands after the Spaniard's win in their match in Sweden. -EPA

Rafael Nadal has returned to singles action with victory over Bjorn Borg's son Leo at the Nordea Open in Sweden.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

The pairing of the names of the two best men's clay-courters of the Open era provoked excitement within tennis, although 21-year-old Leo appears unlikely to have a career anything like that of his father.

Ranked 461, Leo was given a wild card for the tournament in Bastad and competed well against his illustrious opponent - who also received a wild card - before succumbing to a 6-3 6-4 defeat.

"Great feelings," said Nadal in his on-court interview.

"For me it has been a huge honour to play against the son of one of the biggest legends in the history of our sport.

"I think he played quite well, he has a future in front so I wish him all the very best."

Nadal was playing his first singles match since an opening-round loss to Alexander Zverev at the French Open in May.

The 38-year-old decided to stay on clay rather than risk further injury by switching to grass and has been practising with the goal of being at his best for the Paris Olympics later this month.

Nadal should have a stiffer test next against British No.2 Cameron Norrie, who defeated Jozef Kovalik in the first round on Monday.

Top seeds Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud have byes to the second round.