Rafael Nadal stepped up his preparation for the Paris Olympics, winning a four-hour battle with Mariano Navone to progress into the Nordea Open semi-finals.
The 22-times grand slam champion has not lifted silverware since his French Open triumph in 2022, after a spate of injuries meant he missed the majority of last season. He is now just two wins away after beating fourth seed Navone 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-5 in a marathon encounter in Bastad, Sweden.
It represented the sternest examination of Nadal’s physical condition since his return to the ATP Tour in April, with the Spaniard able to bounce back from throwing away a 5-2 lead in the decider to clinch victory and set up a semi-final with the Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic on Saturday.
Nadal has been patient with his latest comeback after exiting the French Open in the first round against Alexander Zverev. The Spaniard skipped Wimbledon to continue his clay-court season here, with his focus on a return to Roland Garros, where he has won 14 French Open titles, at the Summer Games later this month.
“I was not focused all the time, as you saw with [losing] 3-0 and 5-2 [sets]. I lost for some moments the concentration, but I was able to hold physically until the end. That is so important for me. Let’s see how I am tomorrow! But today I am alive and I am in the semi-finals.”
Nadal had already recorded straight-set wins over Leo Borg – the son of tennis great Björn Borg – and the British No 2, Cameron Norrie, already this week. He is aiming to win a third Olympic gold medal this summer, having won the singles tournament in Beijing and the men’s doubles at Rio 2016 with Marc López.
Elsewhere, Holger Rune’s participation in the Olympic Games is in doubt after the Danish player retired from his Hamburg Open quarter-final against Arthur Fils. “So sorry guys. My knee had caused problems since the incident in the first match,” Rune wrote on Instagram. “Yesterday was bad. Today I tried but it wasn’t good.”
The top seed, Alexander Zverev, eased through to the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over China’s Zhang Zhizhen and will face Spain’s Pedro Martínez next.
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At the Gstaad Open in Switzerland, Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Fabio Fognini in straight sets and will face Matteo Berrettini in the semi-finals. Berrettini got the better of Félix Auger-Aliassime in two tie-breaks to continue his comeback from injury troubles.
