Rafael Nadal Paris Olympics 2024 Watch: Spaniard to play in Bastad week after Wimbledon as he steps up hunt for third gold medal
Rafael Nadal is all set to play in the 2024 Nordea Open in Bastad the week after Wimbledon as he looks to get used to the clay before the Paris Olympics. With the Spaniard confirmed to skip the grass swing this year in favor of more practice on clay, he will be in Sweden from July 15-21 at the ATP 250 event two weeks before the Olympics.
Nadal was last in action at the recently concluded French Open, where he faced a first-round exit against Alexander Zverev. Before that, he was in action at the Barcelona Open, the Madrid Open and the Italian Open for an overall win/loss record of 5-4 on the surface in 2024 so far.
On Wednesday, it was confirmed that the 22-time Grand Slam champion will be part of the Spanish contingent at the Paris Olympics, alongside Carlos Alcaraz, Pablo Carreno Busta, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Marcel Granollers. He is a former two-time gold medal winner in the Olympics, having previously won the singles medal in 2008 and the doubles medal in 2016 (with Marc Lopez as his partner).
With Wimbledon taking place in the first two weeks of July and with the Olympics starting on July 27, Nadal is set to skip the grass season to avoid making a transition between the two different surfaces.
In the two weeks left between SW19 and Paris, where the Olympic games will be played at Roland Garros, the former World No. 1 has opted to play in Bastad the first week. This means that he will not be playing at the ATP 500 event in Hamburg this year, which takes place at the same time as the Nordea Open.
"I am happy to be able to play in Båstad this summer where I won one of my first ATP titles. I have great memories from there and am really looking forward to coming back and playing in front of the Swedish fans," Nadal said in a written statement released by tournament organizers in Bastad.
Nadal has played three times in Bastad previously, between 2003 and 2005. In 2005, he won the title, beating Tomas Berdych in the final for his eighth ATP Tour title.
Rafael Nadal has three options if he wants to play a second clay tournament as practice ahead of the Paris Olympics
The week before the Paris Olympics, Rafael Nadal will have three choices to pick from if he wants to play a second preparatory tournament on clay before heading to Roland Garros. There is the Croatia Open in Umag, the Atlanta Open and the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel, Austria.
While the Atlanta Open can be considered out of the question because of the travel it would involve, the ATP 250 events in Umag and Kitzbuhel could prove to be useful training grounds for the 37-year-old ahead of the final Olympics campaign of his career.