Nuno Borges was on the verge of a dream debut on the Queen’s grass courts in London, but his match against Spanish player Roberto Bautista Agut turned into a nightmare. Borges, ranked 38th in the ATP rankings, lost in three sets, 7-6 (6), 5-7, and 4-6, in the first round.
The Portuguese player, who is his country’s number one, won the first set after saving two set points on his serve at 6-5, which led to a tie-break. Borges took the lead 5-2 and had the chance to close out the set when he was up 5-4, but Bautista Agut tied it up 5-5. Although Borges wasted a set point on Bautista Agut’s serve, he managed to close out the tie-break 8-6 on his second opportunity.
Borges showed consistency in the most tense moments, saving the first six break points that Bautista Agut had. When he finally got the chance to break the Spanish player’s serve, he took it, going up 3-1 in the second set and later 4-1. However, when it seemed like he was about to wrap up the match quickly, Borges became more wasteful and allowed his opponent to recover.
It all started with Bautista Agut’s first break of serve, which reduced the deficit to 4-3. The Spanish player then confirmed the break with a love game, tying the set. Borges reacted well, taking a 5-4 lead and having a match point on Bautista Agut’s serve. However, the former world number eight responded with a tie, and then broke Borges’ serve at the decisive moment. Bautista Agut took the set 7-5, forcing a third set.
The missed opportunity to close out the match put Borges in an even more negative phase, allowing his opponent to break his serve in the third set. At that point, Borges had almost twice as many unforced errors as Bautista Agut, with 40 compared to 22. After falling behind 2-0, Borges continued to miss simple shots and trailed behind his opponent, who had his first match point at 5-3.
Although Borges managed to prolong the match slightly, the experienced Spanish player, 37, did not allow him to keep his dream of winning his debut match in the London tournament alive. As the defeat was confirmed, Borges showed his frustration, throwing his hat to the ground and letting out a cry of revolt, realizing he had let the match slip through his fingers.
In the quarterfinals of the tournament, which serves as a preparation for Wimbledon, Bautista Agut will face the winner of the match between Jakub Mensik (17th) and Cameron Norrie (60th).