"Today, I'm alive" - Rafael Nadal delighted to keep good form going at Nordea Open after surviving 4-hour marathon to reach SF

Rafael Nadal survived a four-hour three-setter against Mariano Navone in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Nordea Open on Friday, July 19. The Spaniard is into his first semifinals of the season.

After a disappointing European clay swing, Nadal skipped the grass swing to prepare for the Paris Olympics which will be held on the claycourts of Roland Garros. He is competing at the Nordea Open in singles and doubles categories. The 38-year-old has teamed up with Casper Ruud.

The former World No. 1 kicked off his singles campaign with a straight-set win over Bjorn Borg's son Leo Borg and followed it up by knocking out fifth seed Cameron Norrie in a similar fashion.

Nadal faced fourth seed Mariano Navone in the quarterfinals and dug deep against the Argentine to come back from a set down to win 6-7(2), 7-5, 7-5 in four hours, making it the second-longest best-of-three match of his career. His longest was the 2009 Madrid Masters semifinal against Novak Djokovic, where the Spaniard prevailed 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(9) in four hours and three minutes.

During the on-court interview on Friday, Nadal was told about this stat and was asked how he managed to stay focused. The 22-time Grand Slam champion said he couldn't focus the entire time as he failed to close out the match after leading 5-2 in the third set. However, he was happy to win. The Spaniard added that he was glad to be in the final four of the ATP 250 event and thanked the crowd for their support.

“No I wasn’t focused during the whole time. I was up 5-2, so I lost for some moments the concentration. I was able to hold physically till the end. Let’s see how I am tomorrow. Today, I’m alive and I’m in the semifinals. So that’s super important. I can’t thank enough all the support here in Bastad,” he said.

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Rafael Nadal is into the Nordea Open SF in singles as well as doubles

The Spaniard reaches semifinals in singles and doubles (image source: GETTY)

Rafael Nadal has reached the semifinals of the Nordea Open in singles as well as doubles. In singles, the Spaniard will face Duje Ajdukovic, who defeated Thiago Monteiro in a topsy-turvy three-setter in the quarterfinals. This will be the first meeting between the two men.

On the other hand, the 38-year-old has teamed up with his protege Casper Ruud for doubles. The duo comfortably ousted second seeds Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela and Guido Andreozzi 6-4, 6-1 to kick off their campaign and followed it up with a 6-4, 3-6, 12-10 win against Roman Safiullin and Theo Arribage in the quarterfinals.

Nadal and Ruud will face third seeds Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos in the semifinals on Saturday.