BASTAD, Sweden — Rafael Nadal recovered from a tumble and a 4-1 deficit in the second set to beat fifth-seeded Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the Nordea Open.
Nadal fell over in the first game of the second set after attempting to slide on the clay, and needed treatment on a couple of bleeding scrapes. He then went a break down before winning the last five games of the match to reach his first quarterfinal since January.
“Great feelings, it´s been a while without playing on the tour since Roland Garros and I had a chance to compete against a great player like Cameron,” Nadal said according to AP.
“It´s part of the journey. I haven´t been competing very often so matches like today help and holding the pressure on the opponent for the whole game is something I need to improve on because I haven´t played enough,” Nadal added.
Nadal is playing at the tournament in Sweden for the first time since he won the title as a 19-year-old in 2005 as he prepares for the Olympic tournament on clay at Roland Garros in Paris.
He beat Leo Borg, the son of Swedish tennis legend Bjorn Borg, in the first round on Tuesday.
That was his first singles match since he lost in the first round of the French Open to Alexander Zverev. He teamed up with Casper Ruud on Monday to win a first-round doubles match.
The 38-year-old Nadal skipped Wimbledon as he didn´t want to switch surface to grass and then back to clay and risk injury. He has been dealing with hip and abdominal injuries over the past 1 1/2 years.
At the Olympics, Nadal will return to the clay courts where he became a record 14-times French Open winner, playing with French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz in the doubles.
The Paris Games tennis tournament will take place from July 27-Aug. 4 at Roland Garros.
“To be in rhythm the whole match and hold the pressure on the opponent the whole match, that’s something that I need to improve, because I didn’t play enough,” Nadal explained according to atptour.com.
Although the Spaniard had shown glimpses of his imperious best during his previous 13 tour-level matches in 2024,
The showing against fellow Norrie lefty was arguably his most consistent. A rock-solid Nadal wore down the Briton, himself one of the hardest grinders on Tour, to complete a one-hour, 43-minute triumph.
Nadal took control after a tight opening few games by reeling off three games in a row from 2-3.
He fended off two break points at 5-4 before holding serve to clinch a high-quality first set, and then recovered from a minor lapse in his level early in the second in style.
Nadal won 14 points in a row from 1-4, 0/15, and ultimately won the final five games of the match to improve his Lexus series lead against Norrie to 5-1.
“I feel that in some way at the beginning of the match he was a little bit better than me, because he was winning his serve quite easy, and my serve I was suffering a little bit more,” said Nadal.
“But I was the player who got the break. Then in the beginning of the second set, I was playing better than him. I had break points and was more in control, but I played a bad game and he played a good game and he broke me.
“So I said to myself, ‘OK, it’s 1-4, but it could be 4-1 for me too, so I just need to keep doing the things that I am doing’.
“I probably played a little bit more aggressive with my backhand, which I think at the end of the match worked a little bit better. That makes the difference. With the forehand I am quite happy, and with the serve too.”
Nadal struck the ball cleanly off both wings throughout the match and did not hold back in chasing balls into either corner of the court.
He won 74 per cent (32/43) of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats, a solid foundation that allowed him to win plenty of easy points on serve with some trademark second-strike winners.
The only physical concern for the 38-year-old Nadal came when he fell over his left foot while trying to slide for a ball in the first game of the second set. He called the physio to the court at the end of the game to tidy up bleeding on his leg and elbow.
“He’s a player that is playing so well this year, winning a lot of matches, especially on clay,” said Nadal of the World No. 36 Navone.
“It is the quarter-finals of an historic event on the Tour like Bastad. You can’t expect an easy opponent. I am just focused on keeping improving every single day, trying to play every day. I know it is going to be a tough one, but I really hope to play good tennis and give myself chances.”
