Rafael Nadal registered a superb comeback victory over Mariano Navone at the Swedish Open on Friday as he gets ready for the Olympic Games in Paris.
The 38-year-old downed the Argentine fourth-seed 5-7 (2-7) 7-5 7-5 in an incredibly frantic match to reach the semi-finals of the event in Bastad.
Nadal, who is also playing in doubles with Casper Ruud, will next face Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic in the last four of the singles as he aims to reach the final.
Speaking in his on-court interview after the four-hour clash became the second longest three-set match of his career, Nadal said: ‘I was able to stay physical until the end.
‘Let’s see how I am tomorrow. Today I’m alive and I’m in the semi-finals. So that’s super important.
‘For moments he was in control. For moments I was in control. At the end, no one was in control! That’s the truth.’
The 22-time Grand Slam champion, who is edging towards retirement, got off to a nightmare start but managed to turn things around in a topsy-turvy showdown.
Nadal looked dejected as he walked to his bench after suffering his second break of the afternoon to fall 4-1 behind in Bastad with just 33 minutes on the clock.
The ‘King of Clay’ needed to conjure up something special to keep the first set alive – and that’s exactly what he did – breaking Navone three times and impressing in his service games to turn things around and take the lead.
Navone was even made to save multiple set points in game 12, but he levelled it up at 6-6 before coming out on top 7-2 in the tie-breaker in a blow to Nadal.
The Spanish veteran knew he’d need to clinch the second set to force a decider and he made the perfect start with a break-and-hold combo moving him 2-0 up.
Nadal, looking strong, then secured a double break – but Navone massively went up a level – and sensationally won the next four games in a row to lead 4-3.
Nadal was left fuming and it forced him to once again go through the gears and play some of his very best tennis.
The French Open hero produced another mini comeback to go 6-5 up and he took the second set 7-5 with a overhead smash, celebrating with a huge fist bump to the crowd.
It continued to be a frantic battle in the third set with Navone racing into a 2-0 lead, only for Nadal to remarkably win the next five games in a row.
Nadal had the chance to serve out for the set – but Navone somehow turned the match on its head yet again as he won three games in succession to make it 5-5.
Nadal took a 6-5 lead thanks to his 10th break of the match and then served it out to finally take the third set 7-5 and wrap up the victory in a marathon match.
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