Marathon match for Nadal, through to the semi-finals after four hours of fighting

(Patria) - Spaniard Rafael Nadal advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament in Bastad after defeating Argentine Mariano Navone today with a score of 6-7, 7-5, 7-5.

The match lasted a full four hours and one minute and is considered one of the longest three-set matches at the ATP level.

Interestingly, the longest is still the duel between Nadal and Novak Djokovic from 2009 in Madrid, when Nadal won after four hours and three minutes.

Nadal won this tournament in Bastad back in 2005, and this is his first semi-final since Wimbledon 2022, when he conceded the match to Australian Nick Kyrgios before it even began.

In the first set, Navone led 4-1, but struggled greatly by the end to gain the initial advantage in sets.

Nadal made up for the deficit but ran out of steam in the tie-break, which the Argentine won 7-2.

In the second set, things turned around. Nadal led 3-0, but he also ran into problems finishing the set.

Navone came back, threatened, but the experienced Spaniard reacted well in the moments when the set was being decided and equalized to 1-1 in sets after 7-5.

The fourth seed Navone had a better start in the decisive third set. He led 2-0, but Nadal countered with five won games.

However, even 5-2 was not enough for the legendary Spaniard to calmly finish the match.

Navone equalized to 5-5, but Nadal gathered enough strength for the finish to take two games in a row and achieve a great victory after all.

In the semi-finals, Nadal will cross rackets with Croatian Duje Ajduković, who earlier today defeated Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.