Nadal, Ruud enter Bastad semis

RAFAEL Nadal joins Casper Ruud in beating Theo Arribage and Roman Safiullin, 6-4, 3-6, 12/10, to advance to the men’s doubles semifinals of the Swedish Open at the Bastad Tennis Stadium.
Anne-Christine POUJOULAT/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
BASTAD, Sweden (AFP) — Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud saved a match point in the deciding set tie-break to reach the semifinals of the men’s doubles event of the Swedish Open in Bastad on Wednesday, hours after the Norwegian was knocked out of the singles.
Nadal and Ruud squeezed past France’s Theo Arribage and Roman Safiullin of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 12/10 to advance to the semifinals, winning the final three points of the match after being on the brink of defeat.
“I think we had some fun. It was an emotional match at the end, a good level of tennis against two good players,” said Nadal, who is also competing in the singles tournament.
“We enjoyed it, the crowd was amazing. Full crowd in a doubles match, that’s fantastic. Just enjoying every single day here.”
While Nadal and Ruud wait to discover their semi-final opponents, the Spaniard will be back in action on Thursday against Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the Round of 16 in the singles.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion returned to competition for the first time this week since his early French Open exit.
