NEW DELHI: Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud narrowly escaped defeat in the doubles quarterfinals at the Bastad tournament on Wednesday. The duo faced a match point in the final set tie-break but managed to secure a thrilling victory over their opponents, Theo Arribage of France and Russia's Roman Safiullin.
The match ended with a scoreline of 6-4, 3-6, 12/10 in favor of Nadal and Ruud, who showcased their resilience by winning the last three points of the encounter. This hard-fought win came just hours after Ruud had suffered a loss in the singles competition earlier in the day.
With their quarterfinal triumph, Nadal and Ruud have now booked their spot in the semifinals of the doubles event in Bastad. They will look to carry forward the momentum from this nail-biting victory as they continue their campaign for the doubles title.
"I think we had some fun. It was an emotional match at the end, a good level of tennis against two good players," AFP quoted Nadal, who is also competing in the singles tournament, as saying after the match.
"We enjoy it, the crowd was amazing. Full crowd in a doubles match, that's fantastic. Just enjoying every single day here."
Nadal and Ruud are eagerly anticipating the revelation of their semi-final adversaries. In the meantime, the Spanish tennis star is set to face off against Britain's Cameron Norrie in the round of 16 singles match on Thursday.
Nadal, who boasts an impressive 22 Grand Slam titles, is making his return to the court this week following his unexpected departure from the French Open in the early stages.
The Spaniard will be aiming to sidestep the misfortune that befell Ruud, whose Olympic preparations suffered a setback when he was defeated by Thiago Monteiro in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, during the second round on Wednesday.
Ruud, who has twice been a runner-up at the French Open, reached the final in Sweden last year and emerged victorious in the 2021 edition of the tournament.
