Rafael Nadal will play for his first singles title in two years on Sunday after beating Croatian Duje Ajduković in the semi-finals of the Nordea Open.
Nadal, 38, beat Ajduković 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday and will now seek his first singles title since winning the 2022 French Open. He will face Portugal’s Nuno Borges in the final as he seeks his 93rd career singles title.
“It’s always a great feeling to come back to the final. I won four matches in a row, something I haven’t managed to do in two years,” Nadal said after the match.
“In this process of recovering a lot of things that I lost… things haven’t gone so easily, but I’m fighting. I’ve fought throughout the tournament to be where I am today, and I think matches like yesterday’s, like today’s, help improve a lot of things on the court. I’m happy about that.”
Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion and winner of the 2005 Nordea Open, has skipped Wimbledon this year to focus on clay-court training ahead of the Paris Olympics next week. He will compete in the singles at Roland Garros and will also team up with Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz in the doubles for Spain.
Later Saturday, Nadal will play in the doubles semifinal with Casper Rudd, whom he beat in the French Open final two years ago.