Rafael Nadal makes withdrawal announcement after reaching Swedish Open final to end two-year curse

Nadal was given a wildcard entry to the tournament as he prepares himself for the Olympics.

He pulled off impressive victories against Cam Norrie and Mariano Navone to make it through to the semi-finals.

Croatian star Duje Ajdukovic threatened to stop Nadal's run after taking the opening set.

However, Nadal rallied back to reach his first ATP Tour-level final in over two years.

The 38-year-old was also set to play in the men's doubles semi-final on Saturday alongside Ruud.

However, Nadal confirmed after his win over Ajdukovic that he was withdrawing from the doubles draw to focus on his final.

“Always it is a great feeling to be back in a final," Nadal said.

"I have won four matches in a row, something I was not able to make happen since two years ago.

"A lot of things happened, but still in this process of recovering, a lot of things I lost, because I had a very important hip surgery almost one year ago.

“So things were not going that easy, but I am fighting.

"I am fighting during the whole tournament to be where I am today, and I think matches like yesterday’s, like today’s, help to improve a lot of things on court.

"I am happy with that, and let’s see if I am able to play a little bit better tomorrow.”

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Nadal will face No 7 seed Nuno Borges in the final on Sunday - the first meeting between the pair.

The 22-time major champion will also make a huge climb up the men's rankings to 160th in the world after reaching the final.

If he wins, Nadal could climb up to 135th in the world.