Rafael Nadal stepped up his preparations for the Paris Olympics, winning a four-hour battle with Mariano Navone to advance to the Nordic Open semi-finals.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion has not lifted the trophy since winning the French Open in 2022 after a series of injuries caused him to miss most of last season. He is now two wins away from victory after defeating fourth-seeded Navone 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-5 in a marathon match in Bastad, Sweden.
In Nadal’s toughest physical test since his return to the ATP Tour in April, the Spaniard fought back from a 5-2 lead in the decider to seal the victory and set up a semi-final with the Croatian. Qualifier Duje Ajdukovic.
Nadal has been patient about his recent comeback after crashing out in the first round of the French Open against Alexander Zverev. The Spaniard skipped Wimbledon to continue his clay-court season here, with his focus on returning to Roland Garros at the Summer Olympics later this month, where he won 14 French Open titles.
“I wasn’t paying attention all the time, as you can see [losing] 3-0 and 5-2 [sets]. There was a moment when I lost focus, but I was able to hold on until the end. This is very important to me. Let’s see how I do tomorrow! But today I’m alive and in the semifinals.
Nadal has already beaten Leo Borg, son of tennis great Bjorn Borg, and British No. 2 Cameron Norrie in straight sets this week. He is aiming to win a third Olympic gold medal this summer, having previously won the singles title in Beijing and the men’s doubles title in Rio with Marc Lopez.
Elsewhere, Denmark’s Holger Rune’s Olympic participation is also in doubt after he withdrew from his Hamburg Open quarter-final match against Arthur Fils . “I’m so sorry guys. I’ve been having issues with my knee since the incident in the first game,” Ruane wrote on Instagram. “Yesterday it was bad. I tried it today and it didn’t work very well.
Top seed Alexander Zverev defeated Chinese player Zhang Zhizhen 6-4, 6-3 and easily advanced to the semifinals, where he will next face Spanish player Pedro Martinez.
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Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Fabio Fognini in straight sets at the Gstaad Open in Switzerland and will face Matteo Berrettini in the semi-finals. Berrettini continued his recovery from injury by beating Felix Auger-Aliassime in two tiebreaks.
