Rafa needs 4 hours to reach Bastad semi-finals

BASTAD, Sweden — Rafael Nadal reached the semi-finals of the Bastad Open on Friday by beating Argentine Mariano Navone 6-7 (2/7), 7-5, 7-5 in three hours and 59 minutes.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion has reached the last four of a tournament for the first time since Wimbledon two years ago.

“It was very exciting, long and tiring,” said Nadal, whose nearly four-hour victory was the second-longest three-set match of his career – after the 2009 semi-final in Madrid against Novak Djokovic, which lasted four hours and three minutes.

“For a moment he was in control. For a moment I was in control. In the end, nobody was in control. That’s the truth,” Nadal added.

“I kept it up physically until the end. Let’s see how I am tomorrow. Today I am still alive and I am in the semi-finals. So that is super important.”

Nadal had a poor start against the fast-rising Navone, who is now ranked 36th in the world after starting the year outside the top 100.

He lost serve three times in a row against an opponent who became the first man in the Open era to be considered a seed going into his first Grand Slam appearance at Roland Garros this year.

The Spaniard was 4-1 down and a double break behind, but fought his way back into the set, saving two set points in the tenth game before eventually taking a 6-5 lead.

Nadal himself had two set points and Navone served to stay in the match. The fourth-seeded player showed his mettle by forcing a tiebreak, in which he won the first five points and took the lead.

Navone won the first set when Nadal hit a forehand wide, but the Spaniard quickly recovered to take a 3-0 lead in the second set.

However, his lead was quickly erased by Navone, who won four games in a row before Nadal halted the decline.

Navone held firm and put the pressure back on Nadal, the 2005 Bastad champion. The 38-year-old didn’t flinch, however, winning his service game and then breaking through to a 6-5 lead.

He sent the match into the deciding game after deciding the set with a powerful smash and celebrating with an animated fist pump.

Navone took a 2-0 lead in the third set, but Nadal fought back with overwhelming force, winning five games in a row. Only when his rival crashed in the final phase did the score become equal again: 5-5.

But Nadal broke again and finally crossed the finish line when Navone slammed a forehand into the net.

Nadal now faces Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic, the world number 130, who had won just two tour-level matches in his career until this week.

The 23-year-old Ajdukovic defeated Brazilian Thiago Monteiro in three sets in the quarterfinals.

Nadal won the last of his 92 singles titles at Roland Garros in 2022, when he claimed his 14th Roland Garros title.

He is using the event in Bastad as preparation for the Olympic Games in Paris, where the tennis will be played at Roland Garros. Nadal returned to action this week for the first time since losing in the first round of the French Open at the end of May.