Rafael Nadal won the Nordea Open in Bastad alongside world No. 9 Casper Ruud in a strong doubles match on his comeback.
Nadal and Ruud cruised past Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela 6-1, 6-4 in the opening round of the doubles event in Bastad.
The pair broke four times and lost serve just once in the 79-minute contest.
The two have a close connection and both train at Nadal’s academy in Mallorca, with Ruud admitting the Spaniard is his idol.
In the second round, the wildcard combination will play either Mariano Navone and Cameron Norrie or Theo Arribage and Roman Safiullin.
The 38-year-old Nadal was participating in his first encounter since he was defeated by Alexander Zverev in the Roland Garros opening round on May 27.
The tennis legend will also feature in singles at the clay-court ATP 250 tournament and will take on world No 461 Leo Borg in the first round on Tuesday.
Borg, a 21-year-old Swedish wildcard, is the son of tennis icon Bjorn Borg.
The former world number one is competing in the Swedish Open to get ready for the July 27–August 4 Stade Roland Garros tennis tournament at the Paris Olympics.
Rafael Nadal opted to forego Wimbledon in order to focus on his clay-court preparation for the Olympics.
As well as playing in singles at the Olympics, Nadal will form a dream Spanish doubles team with 21-year-old compatriot Carlos Alcaraz.
In the on-court interview after the doubles win, Nadal said: “It’s a pleasure playing with a good friend and an amazing player like Casper here in Bastad.
Personally, I’m content and believe the pairing worked well. The first time we performed together, we did really well, and I’m glad.
