“Great crowd, great atmosphere. They helped me overcome my demons,” Nuno Borges said about reaching the final of an event after a long wait of four months! From a first round exit at Wimbledon to reaching the final at the Swedish Open, Borges has made a transition that every player wishes for! But the next one to face him is a legend of the sport, Rafael Nadal. Will he break through? Probably he can, with the guidance of his coaches! So, let’s dive into the constant support system that works behind him, his two coaches, Rui Machado And Hugo Anaao.

The Portuguese player who won the Challenger Phoenix event in March is ready for his second final match of the season in Sweden. And one of the best Portuguese players of all time, the former tennis player Machado, who is one of Borges’ coaches, will help him with that. The 40-year-old was once ranked 59th in the ATP rankings, which was the highest a Portuguese player had until then. However, if you look at Borges’ ranking, he had an even better one, namely number 46 this season.

However, Machado’s love for tennis began at the age of 6, but the former player, who speaks Portuguese, Spanish and English, soon showed his talent on the tennis court, winning the national junior singles championship in 2001. Machado, who initially dreamed of studying economics at a Catalan university, later focused on playing professional tennis and made waves in the sport.

His starting point was the futures circuit, where he excelled in doubles, taking home two trophies from 2002 to 2005. As for the Challenger tournaments, he won 8 times and lost only twice in the final (from 2009 to 2012). Interestingly, they were all on clay, his favorite surface, except for one in Greece (April 2009). In doubles, however, he won only one title.

But his success came in the Futures event, where Machado, who loves to hit a forehand, won 10 clay court titles over the years (from 2003 to 2016) and 8 hard court titles! In doubles, however, Machado, who grew up idolizing Stefan Edbergcould not achieve the same result, winning only 5 matches in his career. But if you ask him what he would have become if he had not been a tennis player, his answer would be: a businessman, like his father. However, his best memory still relates to tennis, where he thinks back to the time he played his first Grand Slam draw at the US Open in 2008.

But now he is busy using all his expertise to guide Borges to success. But he is not the only one! Anao, who graced the ITF, ATP and Davis Cup events in his time, is there too. Relatively speaking, he has not played many matches in tennis, with only two on clay and three on hard courts, of which he won one on both surfaces. However, Anao, who is now much lower in the ATP rankings (1323), is doing everything he can to push Borges to fight against one of the toughest players of all time, Rafael Nadal.

Borges pours out his heart after securing a place in the final against Rafael Nadal

The seventh seed from Portugal recorded a huge victory against Thiago Augustin Tirante in the semi-finals (6-3, 6-4) to secure a place in the top match of the tournament. But he may have now put himself in a much more dangerous situation!

As he will be facing the 22-time Grand Slam champion for the first time in his career, it will be a treat to see how he outdoes the ‘King of Clay’. For Borges, however, it has become more than just a competition; it is where he has fulfilled his childhood dream.

“Just sharing the court with Nadal, especially in a final, is a dream come true. I will try to enjoy it as much as possible and still try to be competitive and win,” he said after his latest victory. While Borges is showing his best game, we should not forget the hard work behind his success, especially combined with the valuable contribution of his coaches!