Rafael Nadal felt his performance levels at the Swedish Open were "so far from what they should be", but was pleased to emerge from his run to the final in Bastad without any injuries. (More Tennis News)
The 22-time Major winner reached his first ATP championship match since winning his 14th French Open title two years ago, losing out to Nuno Borges in straight sets.
Nadal saw off Leo Borg and Cameron Norrie, before battling past Mariano Navone and Duje Ajdukovic in three sets. However, he was no match for Borges, who was a commanding 6-3 6-2 winner in the final.
The injury-plagued Spaniard opted to skip Wimbledon to focus on participating in the forthcoming Paris Olympics, where he will play in the singles and doubles events.
And though he admitted he wanted to play better in Bastad, Nadal was thrilled to come through multiple demanding matches unscathed.
"The level was so far from what it should be. Probably, the energy too. It has been a long week with long matches," Nadal told reporters.
"I don't have damage [to my body], that's important - but mentally and physically, I'm not used to playing four days in a row and playing long matches.
"I need to analyse well and find the reason why I played that way, even if the energy wasn't right. Things like this can happen, and that's the situation.
"I played the final, that's positive. I was able to play long matches without having an injury. That's good.
"In some ways, I felt that I arrived here practising much better than what I played in the tournament during the whole week. That's something that I am not satisfied with."
