"Rafael Nadal's getting old" - Casper Ruud teases his doubles partner about facing difficulties dealing with rain delays after Nordea Open 1R win

Casper Ruud joked about Rafael Nadal getting old and facing difficulties dealing with rain delays after their first match together at the Nordea Open. The duo started their doubles campaign with a win and booked their spot in the quarterfinals.

Nadal and Ruud joined forces for the first time for doubles at the Nordea Open and faced the No. 2 seeded pair of Miguel Reyes-Varela and Guido Andreozzi in the first round. The Spaniard-Norwegian duo won 6-1, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, they will face either Theo Arribage and Roman Safiullin or Mariano Navone and Cameron Norrie.

After the win, they gave an on-court interview, assessing their performances. Ruud joked that he was adjusting better to rain delays than the Spaniard, as the latter was getting old.

"Like Rafa said it was a good match. Coming to the rain delays I am used to it, more than Rafa I guess being from Norway and he is from Spain. He’s getting old. So I’m not sure how his body feels having to start & stop all the time," Casper Ruud said.

Talking about Nadal's performance, Ruud said that he played well and it was fun to share the court with him.

"He did well, good doubles and it was a lot of fun to share the court with Rafa as always," Ruud stated.

Before the match, the 2022 and 2023 French Open finalist talked to the media about playing doubles with the King of Clay and said it was an easy decision to make.

"Rafa sent a text and asked. I don’t usually play doubles, but when Rafa asks, it’s easy to say yes," Ruud said.

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Rafael Nadal preparing for Olympic Games at Nordea Open

Rafael Nadal at Rio Olympics (Source: GETTY)

Rafael Nadal decided to play at the Nordea Open in preparation for the Olympic games, where he will team up with Carlos Alcaraz. Talking about the Games, the Spaniard said he would try to be as fit as possible and be a good doubles partner to Alcaraz.

"I'm going to try to arrive as well prepared as possible. I haven't played doubles for a long time, but Carlos is in a fantastic moment after winning in Paris, so I will try to arrive as best as possible and as prepared as possible to be a good partner for him," he said (via Punto de Break).

Rafael Nadal has already won two Olympic gold medals, with the singles medal coming at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, he won the doubles gold medal, partnering with Marc Lopez.