Rafael Nadal won out against Mariano Navone to reach the semi-final of the Swedish Open.
The Spaniard came through a mammoth three-hour-and-58-minute match against the number four seed, winning 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 7-5.
Read our other sports news stories:
Wimbledon 2024: Alcaraz thrashes Djokovic to defend men’s title
James Anderson bows out in style as England thrash West Indies
Krejcikova to face Paolini in final after stunning Rybakina
He will face Croatian Duje Ajdukovic for a place in the final, while the 38-year-old will also play alongside Casper Ruud in the semi-finals of the doubles events.
Nadal is preparing to partner Carlos Alcaraz at the Olympics in Paris in the coming weeks and his preparations seem to be going well on the clay courts.
He previously beat Britain’s Cameron Norrie en route to the semi-finals and was playing some vintage tennis against Navone.
The king of clay came from behind after losing a first-set tie-break but managed to come through in the next two sets.
A 4 HOUR BATTLE 🥵
Watch the highlights of the Nadal vs Navone EPIC 👇
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) JULY 19, 2024
Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam winner, was upbeat about his performance, but the serial winner as he is was only focused on the next match.
He said: “First of all, I’m looking forward to the afternoon and trying to recover this body.
“Even if it’s a young body, I would need to work and recover once and for all. I will see how I wake up tomorrow.”
