Spain’s Rafael Nadal shook off any rust and defeated Leo Borg — the 21-year-old son of tennis legend Bjorn Borg — 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Nordea Open on Tuesday in Bastad, Sweden. Nadal, 38, had not played in an ATP Tour match since May 27, when he lost a first-round match to Alexander Zverev at the French Open. Nadal, with 92 tour-level titles to his credit, was competing in Bastad for the first time since winning the event in 2005.
He didn’t face a break point against fellow wild-card entry Borg and won 82.1 percent (32 of 39) of his first-serve points in capturing the match in one hour and 25 minutes. He will face No. 5 seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain in the next round. In other matches, Nadal’s countryman Roberto Carballes Baena won in three sets over sixth-seeded Roman Safiullin of Russia 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-3; and Kazakhstan qualifier Timofey Skatov overcame Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-7 (7), 6-2, 7-6 (4). Seventh-seeded Nuno Borges of Portugal defeated lucky loser Andrea Pellegrino of Italy 6-2, 7-6 (3). Other winners were Portugal’s Henrique Rocha, India’s Sumit Nagal, Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante, Kazakhstan’s Dennis Yevseyev, Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro and Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic
It was a good day for seeded players, led by No. 2 Holger Rune with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in the opening round in Germany. Denmark’s Rune saved all four break points while converting two of five. He also had a 23-13 edge in winners.
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