Nadal battles through marathon rollercoaster in Sweden

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Nadal battles through marathon rollercoaster in Sweden

Rafael Nadal has advanced to his first semi-final in two years after a four-hour quarter-final at the Nordea Open in Bastad.

Nadal fought past 36th-ranked Mariano Navone of Argentina 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 7-5, having led 5-2 in the deciding set.

Some brilliant tennis between the two forced a first-set tie-break, where the Argentine powered his way into the lead.

After breaking twice in the second set to lead 3-0, Nadal then lost four games in a row as his level dropped dramatically.

Nadal broke again to make it 6-5 and was then able to hold his nerve to level the match.

The 22-time Grand Slam winner ******* when serving for the match at the first attempt, but closed out the tie at the second time of asking.

“I lost for some moments my concentration, but I was able to hold physically until the end,” Nadal said in an on-court interview. “That is so important for me. Let’s see how I am tomorrow, but today I am alive and in the semi-finals.”

The 38-year-old Nadal is playing his first tournament since losing in the French Open first round, to prepare for the Paris Olympics on clay at Roland Garros.

In his first semi-final since 2022 Wimbledon, Nadal will face Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic on Saturday.

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