Bob Larson Daily Tennis
July 9, 2024
Bastad - Second Round
Rafael Nadal def. Albert Portas 6-0 6-4
Every day is an adventure for Rafael Nadal.
Being a teenager helps in that regard. But few teenagers take as many steps as quickly as Nadal. In the past few months, he's posted his first ATP win, his first Slam, his first big win -- and now his first quarterfinal.
And he did it in fine form, beating first Younes El Aynaoui and now Albert Portas -- solid clay players both, though Portas's drop shots don't seem like the best weapon to bring to bear against a speedy teenage kid. As, indeed, the score seems to confirm. (And Nadal also beat Portas at a Challenger earlier this year.)
The other new thing Nadal can expect is a career high ranking. He's already up to #61 (and recall that, as recently as Monte Carlo, he wasn't even Top 100). This should gain him about a half dozen more places. At this rate he'll be Top 50 by the end of the month, and might even be seeded at the Australian Open (in fact, if he can keep up his current rate, he'll be seeded at the U. S. Open. But hardcourts will probably slow him down a little, and indoor surfaces perhaps a little more still).
The loss will hurt Portas's ranking as well as his pride; he earned quarterfinalist points at Bastad 2002. #83 coming in, he'll lose about five spots.
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