Impressive Nadal rallies past Norrie to Bastad QFs

  • Posted: Jul 18, 2024

Rafael Nadal delivered one of his most complete performances of the 2024 season on Thursday at the Nordea Open.

The former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings defeated fifth seed Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4 in Bastad to reach his second ATP Tour quarter-final of the season. After clinching the only break of a tight first set, Nadal rallied from 1-4 down in the second to pull through a tough second-round test at the clay ATP 250.

“Great feelings. I’ve been a while without playing on the Tour, since Roland Garros. To have the chance to compete well against a great player like Cameron is a great feeling,” said Nadal in his on-court interview. “I think I played in some moments good tennis, in some moments I need to play a little bit more aggressive, but that is part of the journey today.

“I haven’t been competing very often, so matches and victories like today help. 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.”

Although the Spaniard had shown glimpses of his imperious best during his previous 13 tour-level matches in 2024, Thursday’s 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 of what was a very tight opening set 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 ATP Head2Head series lead against Norrie to 5-1.

Physically, Nadal looked very comfortable moving around the court against Norrie. The only concern for the 38-year-old came when he fell over his left foot while trying to slide for a ball at 40/Ad 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.

Now 9-5 for the season, Nadal will take on fourth seed Mariano Navone in the quarter-finals as he looks to add another Bastad title to the one he won on his previous appearance there in 2005. Navone earlier defeated Sumit Nagal 6-4, 6-2.

More to follow…

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