The tennis legend once again illustrated why he is regarded by many as tennis’ greatest competitor by defeating Mariano Navone.

Nadal beat the last seeded player in the tournament by coming from a set down to claim a 6-7(2), 7-5, 7-5 win in four hours.

This victory meant Nadal booked his spot in the semi-finals of an ATP event for the first time since 2022.

What did a tennis pundit say about Rafael Nadal’s game at the Swedish Open?

Despite his satisfaction at winning and extending his Swedish Open run, Rafael Nadal could not muster a steady effort.

He made a lot of unintentional mistakes to start the match, and in the decisive set, he twice missed serving to end the match.

Following the match, Peter Ogden outlined Nadal’s mistakes and emphasized the necessity for him to make progress going forward.

His game fluctuates a lot. It was quite concerning when we noticed his forehand go out of the picture halfway through the second set, the analyst remarked.

“In that first set, his backhand wasn’t as sharp as he would have liked it to be.” Ogden was happy to see Nadal manage to endure the physical strain the match had on his body, though.

He continued, “The signs are great in terms of his health and his body holding up.” “Four exhausting hours of tennis with no symptoms of weariness. That’s fantastic, then. All that matters is if he can soften the edges that are tougher.

Rafael Nadal marches on at the Swedish Open?

Nadal struggled to find consistency and made an unusual 42 unforced mistakes against Navone. He forced a tiebreak after falling behind 1-4 in the opening set, but Navone won it to advance the match.

Then, in the second set, Nadal wasted a 3-0 advantage before winning 7-5. In the decisive set, he then took a 5-2 lead but lost two opportunities to serve for the match.

However, Nadal, like he has so frequently done in the past, clawed out another chance to break Navone’s serve at 5-5, and he took advantage of his third opportunity to win the exciting match with ease.

“I was able to hold physically until the end, but I lost my concentration for a few moments,” Nadal said in an on-court interview, raising his arms in the air in celebration at match point.

That is really significant to me. It’s crucial that I’m still alive and in the semi-finals today; we’ll see how I do tomorrow.