Casper Ruud didn’t hide that he was pretty thrilled about playing doubles with Rafael Nadal this week but also cracked a hilarious joke, saying the 38-year-old Spaniard is too old to be going through multiple rain delays during matches.
After signing up to play doubles together in Bastad, Ruud and Nadal kicked off their Bastad run on Monday with a convincing 6-4 6-1 win over No. 2 seeds Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Reyes-Varela 6-4 6-1.Â
While the match lasted only an hour and nine minutes, it was twice interrupted by rain. And afterward, a happy Ruud decided to joke a little bit about the entire situation.Â
“Like Rafa said, I think it was a good match. When it comes to the rain delays, I’m used to it more than Rafa, being from Norway and he is from Spain. He is getting old so I’m not sure how his body feels when he has to stop and start all the time, but he did well. We played good doubles and it was a lot of fun to share the court with Rafa as always,” Ruud said.Â
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What Ruud said about accepting Nadal’s invitation
Ruud, 25, rarely plays doubles and before Bastad, he only appeared in doubles five times this year. But when his idol Nadal reached out to him and asked him if he was interested in being his doubles partner in Bastad, the 25-year-old Norwegian didn’t think twice.
“Rafa sent a text and asked. I don’t usually play doubles, but when Rafa asks, it’s easy to say yes,” Ruud said.
Meanwhile, Nadal said about Ruud: “It’s a pleasure playing with a good friend and an amazing player like Casper here in Bastad.”
In the Bastad doubles quarterfinal, Ruud and Nadal plays against Mariano Navone and Cameron Norrie or Theo Arribage and Roman Safiullin.
It remains to be seen if Ruud and Nadal can win Bastad in their doubles team debut.