All About The Rankings Incentive Which Made Rafael Nadal Choose Singles over Doubles in Bastad

Quite reminiscent of his prime self, Rafael Nadal dominated the past week during the Swedish Open 2024. Apart from making it to the finals of the singles event, Rafa also partnered with Casper Ruud and reached the final four stages of the doubles event. However, the Spaniard had to sadly withdraw from the doubles to be fit enough to play the singles finals against Nuno Borges. Interestingly, this decision might’ve been influenced by the incentive of improving his rankings.

On Saturday, Nadal was scheduled to play both semifinals, which were only a few hours apart. After already requiring 4 hours to get past Mariano Navone in the quarterfinals, Rafa took 2 hours and 13 minutes to win his semifinal encounter against Duje Ajdukovic. Understandably, the 22-time Grand Slam winner must’ve been exhausted. Hence, the decision to not partake in the doubles event didn’t come as a surprise.

Rafa would’ve benefitted significantly by winning more matches in the singles events. After starting the event as the World No. 261 ranked player, a title win would’ve improved his ranking by almost 130 spots. Although he failed to get past Borges, Nadal was still able to make a significant move in the rankings, now being the new World No.161.

The Mallorca native will benefit massively with easier draws in the bigger tournaments if he manages to improve his ranking and make his way to the top 100 again. Unlike his first-round loss against Alexander Zverev in the French Open 2024, we could see the 38-year-old advance past the initial rounds in the ATP Masters 1000 events and Grand Slams.

Despite the loss, Nadal felt “great” to return to Bastad after 19 years

Nadal participated in Bastad after 19 years to get some much-needed preparation ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Pleasantly surprising the tennis community, Nadal made it to the finals. However, he failed to lift his 93^rd career title, suffering an embarrassing 3-6, 2-6 loss to Nuno Borges.

Despite a disappointing performance, Nadal took to Instagram and expressed his gratitude. Apart from thanking the tournament organizers, the former World No.1 admitted feeling “great” returning to Bastad.

“It was great to be in a final again. It was great to be back in Båstad. Many thanks to all the teams organizing this great event. Krister, Magnus, Anna, Annika, Isabella and the rest of the amazing staff who takes care of every single player and every single detail. Tack så mycket.”

Furthermore, he congratulated Borges and claimed that the win was well deserved before thanking his fans for their immense support.