In Pictures: Rafael Nadal all smiles at special ceremony held at Nordea Open to celebrate Spaniard's triumph at Bastad as a 19-year-old

Rafael Nadal was honored by the Nordea Open in a special ceremony where they celebrated the legendary Spaniard's 2005 triumph in Bastad ahead of his 'title defense' in 2024. The then 19-year-old Nadal had defeated Tomas Berdych in a three-setter to clinch the title.

Nadal is currently competing at the 2024 Nordea Open as he continues his preparation for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. The Olympics are set to be played at Roland Garros, meaning the surface will be clay. The two-time Gold medalist will be playing singles and doubles at the prestigious once-in-a-four-year event.

The 38-year-old seems to have found his footing as he has reached the final in Bastad. En route, he defeated Bjorn Borg's son Leo Borg and fifth seed Cameron Norrie in straight sets, survived a four-hour clash against fourth seed Mariano Navone, and came back from a set down yet again to oust Duje Ajdukovic to reach the 131st final of his career.

After ousting Borg in the opening round, the former World No. 1 joked about how he was defending his title after 19 years, leaving the crowd in splits.

“I’m good. I am defending the title after (19 years),” the Spaniard said.

The Nordea Open recently honored Rafael Nadal with a special ceremony to celebrate his 2005 championship triumph when he was just 19 years old. The Spaniard was dressed in formal and was all smiles at the ceremony. He was also presented with a trophy and a framed photo of him holding the Nordea Open trophy in 2005.

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Rafael Nadal reached a final for the first time in two years

The Spaniard competed in the 131st final of his career (image source: GETTY)

During the on-court interview after his semifinal win, Rafael Nadal expressed his relief at reaching a final after two years. The former World No.1's previous final came at the 2022 French Open where he defeated Casper Ruud to win his 22nd Major title. He admitted that things haven't been easy for him but was ready to continue fighting.

“It’s always a great feeling to be in a final. I won 4 matches in a row. I wasn’t able to make that happen since 2 years ago. A lot of things happened. That’s the truth. Still in this process of recovering a lot of things I lost because I had a very important hip surgery almost 1 year ago.. so things aren’t going that easy."

"But I’m fighting. I fought the whole tournament to be where I am today. Matches like yesterday and today help to improve a lot of things on court. Happy with that. Let’s see if I’m able to play a little better tomorrow,” he added.

However, Rafael Nadal's dream run was ended by Nuno Borges in the final as the Portuguese clinched his maiden ATP title by defeating the Spaniard 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 27 minutes.