Rafael Nadal digs deep in four-hour win over Navone
Rafael Nadal has treated Swedish tennis fans to a display of the fighting spirit that has won him 22 Grand Slams over the years, with the Spaniard edging Mariano Navone in a four-hour marathon at the Swedish Open on Friday.
It was far from a perfect performance from the former world No.1, but the 6-7(2), 7-5, 7-5 victory will be extra sweet, given how little match time Nadal has had this year.
The 38-year-old was playing in only his 15th singles match of the season, having struggled with significant injury issues over the past two years.
He is now through to his first semi-final of 2024, and is a $1.66 favourite with tennis bookmakers to lift the trophy in Bastad on Sunday.
Nadal lets big lead slip
While the quarter-final between Nadal and Navone took four hours on the dot to complete, it likely should have ended much earlier.
Nadal twice let decisive leads slip, holding a 3-0 advantage in the second set and a 5-2 lead in the third. Both sets went to 12 games, with the Spaniard edging Navone 7-5.
“There were a lot of changing dynamics in every single set,” Nadal said after the match, which was the second-longest three-setter of his career.
“For moments, he was in control. For moments, I was in control. But at the end, no one was in control.”
The match began with Nadal on the back foot, as he conceded three breaks of serve in the first five games, slipping to 4-1.
In true champion fashion, he fought back to level the set at 5-5 and then 6-6, before losing in a tiebreak.
Across the span of the quarter-final, there were a total of 18 breaks of serve. Both men also hit more unforced errors than winners, with Nadal making 42 to 33.
“I lost for some moments my concentration, but I was able to hold physically until the end. That is so important for me,” he confessed.
“Let’s see how I am tomorrow, but today I am alive and in the semi-finals, so that’s very important.”
Big challenge awaits Nadal
If a four-hour match was not a big enough test of Nadal’s fitness, the 38-year-old faces a real challenge on Saturday.
He will play his semi-final match against qualifier Duje Ajdukovic first on Centre Court.
Then, a few hours later, Nadal is due back on court to contest the doubles semi-final alongside Casper Ruud.
The Spaniard is favoured to prevail in his singles match, paying $1.33 at tennis bookmakers compared to Adjukovic’s $3.20.
However, Nadal is a slight underdog to go two from two with Ruud in the doubles, with bookies putting the pair at $2.25 in their clash against Luz/Matos.