Rafael Nadal was in doubles action on Monday as he teamed up with Casper Ruud in the Nordea Open in Bastad. But the duo had their showdown with Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Reyes-Varela disrupted by rain as proceedings were temporarily suspended midway through the second set.

Nadal and Ruud were in inspired form on the clay surface during the opening set as they dropped just one game to win it 6-1.

They were then cruising in the second set, before Andreozzi and Reyes-Varela forced their way back into the match by breaking Nadal’s serve. And with the second set locked at 3-3, the heavens opened to bring the match to an abrupt halt.

Once the rain had eased, they took the court again as Nadal and Ruud saw out a 6-4 win, knocking out the second seeds.

Nadal has endured a miserable time on the court over the last 18 months due to injury issues and was knocked out of this year’s French Open in the first round after succumbing to German ace Alexander Zverev at the end of May.

He then decided to sit on the sidelines throughout the entirety of the grass court season and skipped Wimbledon in an attempt to get his body ready for the Paris Olympics.

And his doubles match in Sweden was the first time he has played a competitive match since his disappointment at Roland Garros.

Nadal hasn’t entered the ATP 250 event in Bastad since 2005. On that occasion he won the singles tournament following a three-set victory over Tomas Berdych in the final.

The 38-year-old is set to play in the singles once again this year and has been drawn to face Bjorn Borg’s son Leo in the first round.

And ahead of that match, Borg Jnr said: “It was crazy because we were looking when they did the draw and my name just popped up against Rafa. I’m feeling very excited and it’s going to be a great match.”

Nadal is set to team up with Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz in the Olympic Games doubles, with the tournament taking place on the Roland Garros courts.

The news of the partnership was revealed by Spanish men’s captain David Ferrer a month ago.

And Nadal confirmed that he would be involved at the Games as he announced his decision to give Wimbledon a miss. “It was announced yesterday [Wednesday] that I will play at the summer Olympics in Paris, my last Olympics,” he wrote in a statement. “With this goal, we believe that the best for my body is not to change surface and keep playing on clay until then.”