In nearly four hours, Rafael Nadal roars back in Bastad, grounds Mariano Navone ahead of Olympics

Rafael Nadal cinched a vintage comeback at the 2024 Nordea Open on Friday, knocking out an in-form Mariano Navone in a nearly four-hour thriller, 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-5.

"Without a doubt, it was very close, long, and tiring," Nadal smiled on court after the match. "There were a lot of changing dynamics in every single set. For moments, he was in control and for moments, I was in control. But at the end, no one was in control! That's the truth. I had a good chance in the second and I was very close to losing the match in the second. In the third, I had 5-2 but he's a great fighter and played a great match. I wish him all the best for the rest of the season."

The former world No. 1 has enjoyed a busy and successful week in Båstad as he prepares for what will likely be his final appearance at the Olympic Summer Games in Paris. Into the semifinals in both singles and doubles with Casper Ruud, Nadal roared back from 2-0, 40-0 down in the third and held off a late surge from the No. 4 seed to secure his best ATP result since 2022 Wimbledon in three hours and 58 minutes on Center Court.

"For some moments I lost the concentration," Nadal said of his second-longest victory in the best-of-three format. "I was able to hold physically until the end, and that's so important for me. Let's see how I am tomorrow, but today I am alive and I'm in the semifinals."

A 22-time Grand Slam champion, Nadal was coming off one of his most impressive wins of the season, a straight-set victory over No. 5 seed Cameron Norrie to reach only his second ATP quarterfinal of the year—and his first since the Brisbane International in January. Battling injuries that took him out of the Australian Open and Sunshine Swing, Nadal returned to action in Barcelona and reached the fourth round of the Mutua Madrid Open but lost a heartbreaking first round at Roland Garros to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev.

Opting out of the subsequent Wimbledon Championships to continue practicing on clay, the surface on which the Olympics will be played, Nadal made a triumphant return to Båstad for the first time in 19 years, when he won the even as a teenager. Now 38, the Spaniard nonetheless balanced singles and doubles with Ruud, saving a match point in the quarterfinals of the latter to book a Saturday semifinal against No. 3 seeds Rafael Matos and Orlando Luz.

But first, he had to face Navone, a 23-year-old in the midst of a career-best season, having peaked at No. 29 in the ATP rankings last month. After winning a whopping five ATP Challenger titles in 2023, Navone has made a winning transition towards the top of the game, reaching an ATP 500 final at the Rio Open in February and making major main-draw debuts at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. The No. 4 seed made relatively quick work against Sumit Nagal to book a first meeting with the King of Clay.

Despite Nadal’s illustrious resume, it was Navone who got off to the more emphatic start, shaking off an early exchange of breaks to take a commanding 4-1 lead in the opening set. Nadal recovered and after winning five of the next six games, earned two set points on the Argentine’s serve. Navone saved both and roared through the ensuing tiebreak, putting himself a set away from the biggest win of his career.

The second set saw more wild momentum swings as Nadal took a double-break lead of his own only for Navone to level proceedings at three games apiece. On the brink of defeat, Nadal gamely served to stay in the match and turned the tables on Navone, provoking a forehand miss to score a crucial break in the 11th game.

As the match ticked past two hour and 30 minutes, Nadal played one of the best points of the match, converting set point with a powerful overhead to force a decider.

A titanic third set unfolded as Navone took a 2-0, 40-0 lead only for Nadal to claw his way back, winning the next three games to emerge with a break advantage following a four-deuce fifth game. Nadal sent Navone tumbling to the clay as he closed in on a fourth straight game, consolidating as the Argentine missed wide off the forehand side.

In full control, Nadal shook off an overhead miss on break point to convert another four points later, putting himself a game from victory. Navone roared back from there, twice breaking Nadal as he served for the match and evening the contest at five games all with a searing forehand winner that lit up the crowd.

But with the clock edging towards the four-hour mark, that forehand let Navone down and Nadal was back up a break with a third chance to serve out the match. The third time proved the charm for Nadal, who held to love and booked a final-four encounter with Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic.