Rafael Nadal’s winning run at the clay-court Nordea Open ended Sunday when the Spaniard was beaten by Nuno Borges 6-3, 6-2 in the final on Sunday.
The seventh-seeded Portuguese player broke the Nadal serve five times on his way to a first ATP tour victory. It was Nadal’s first final since the 2022 French Open.
“It’s crazy, in tennis it doesn’t happen when you expect it sometimes,” said Borges. “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.”