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Rafael Nadal's impressive winning streak at the Nordea Open on clay courts came to an end on Sunday when he was defeated by Nuno Borges with a score of 6-3, 6-2 in the final match.
The Portuguese player seeded seventh, managed to break Nadal's serve five times on his way to securing his first ATP tour victory.
This final marked Nadal's first appearance since the 2022 French Open.
Borges expressed his surprise at the outcome, stating, "It’s crazy, in tennis it doesn’t happen when you expect it sometimes. I know we all wanted Rafa to win, a part of me wished that too, but something even bigger inside of me really pushed through today."
Nadal's return to the tournament in Sweden was significant as it was his first participation since his victory as a 19-year-old in 2005.
This served as part of his preparation for the Olympics tournament on clay at Roland Garros in Paris.
The 38-year-old opted out of Wimbledon as he wanted to avoid the risk of injury by switching surfaces from clay to grass and then back to clay.
He has been managing hip and abdominal injuries over the past one and a half years.
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