Marathon match for Nadal, advances to semi-finals after four hours of battle

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

The match lasted four hours and one minute, making it one of the longest three-set matches on the ATP level.

Interestingly, the longest remains 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 withdrew before the start of the match against Australian Nick Kyrgios.

In the first set, Navone led 4-1, but he struggled greatly to secure the initial set advantage.

Nadal caught up, 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 trouble closing out the set.

Navone fought back and threatened, but the experienced Spaniard responded well in the crucial moments of that set and equalised at 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 consecutive games won.

However, even a 5-2 lead was not enough for the legendary Spaniard to calmly close out the match.

Navone equalised at 5-5, but Nadal gathered enough strength for the finish to take two games in a row and secure a big victory.

In the semi-finals, Nadal will face Croatian Duje Ajduković, who earlier on Sunday defeated Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.