Tennis
Rafael Nadal sends message to son of tennis legend after making comeback
Rafael Nadal made his return to competitive tennis with a straight sets victory over the son of Bjorn Borg and the 22-time Grand Slam winner paid tribute to his opponent after the match
Rafael Nadal believes Bjorn Borg’s son Leo has a big future in tennis after beating him on his return to action at the Nordea Open in Sweden.
Nadal had not played competitive tennis since losing to Alexander Zverev at the French Open in May and the 22-time Grand Slam winner opted to miss Wimbledon this year in order to focus on his preparations for the Paris Olympics.
And in his comeback match against Borg, Nadal recorded a 6-3 6-4 victory in straight sets. However, Borg battled hard and impressed Nadal with his performance as the Spaniard paid tribute to him after the match.
“Great feelings,” Nadal said 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.”
Bjorn Borg won 11 Grand Slam singles titles during his illustrious career and his son Leo has followed in his footsteps, although he has previously called Nadal his “idol”. Speaking in 2023, Borg revealed: “I met Rafael Nadal at the Laver Cup because my father is the captain of the European team.
“He was always my idol since I was little. I want to be a professional and make a living from tennis… I would like to reach the top ten. The truth is that I have always wanted to play tennis on my own initiative.
“I know that he [Borg’s dad] is proud of me, of what I am doing, and I hope I have a good future. I was having a hard time with it when I was younger, with people following me on the court or outside the courts, and I was not used to that.
“But I’m getting used to it and I can control it more. I just have to control it because it’s going to be following me all my career. It doesn’t bother me. I’m just focusing on my goal, on my tennis.”
Nadal, meanwhile, is set to take on Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the next round after his win over Jozef Kovalik. “It was quite difficult,” Norrie said after his win. “I was pretty nervous at the beginning, I’d not played much on clay coming straight out of Wimbledon.
“It was not easy and I thought I managed my serve and competed really well. I served unbelievably well in the tie break so that helped get me through it. I played one of the best games of the match at the end.”
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