Nadal fails to beat Federer's record, 1st ATP title for Borges in Bastad!
Rafael Nadal just couldn't cope with Nuno Borges. After spending 9 hours and 18 minutes in 4 matches on the Bastad courts this week to reach the final, he just couldn't cope on Sunday.
Too imprecise in his movements and not punchy enough on serve, the Spaniard lost in two sets (6-3, 6-2) and an hour and a half. On the other side of the net, Borges took full advantage of the situation to win his very first ATP title at the age of 27. He is only the second Portuguese to lift a trophy on the ATP Tour, after Joao Sousa (Kuala Lumpur 2013, Valencia 2015, Estoril 2018, Pune 2022).
Nadal had the opportunity to set a new record by becoming the Open-era player with the longest gap between his first and last ATP title. He won the first in Sopot in August 2004, 19 years and 11 months ago.
The record is 18 years and 8 months. It belongs to Roger Federer, who won his first ATP title in Milan in January 2001 and his last title in Basel in October 2019.
Nadal, with 17 and 9 months between Sopot 2004 and Roland-Garros 2022, remains third in this ranking. American Jimmy Connors, who won in Jacksonville in January 1972 and Tel Aviv in October 1989, is second with a gap of 17 years and 10 months.
Bastad 
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