Rafael Nadal boosts Olympic 2024 chances by winning four-hour battle with Navon

Rafael Nadal boosts Olympic 2024 chances by winning four-hour battle with Navon

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Rafael Nadal boosts Olympic 2024 : Rafael Nadal has stepped up his preparations for the Paris Olympics, reaching the Nordea Open semifinals after winning a four-hour battle with Mariano Navone. Nadal passes physical test to reach Bastad semifinals Holger Rune’s Olympic hopes in doubt due to knee injury

He is now just two wins away from beating fourth seed Navon 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-5 in a marathon encounter in Bastad, Sweden. The 22-time Grand Slam champion has not won a silverware since his triumph at the French Open in 2022, as injuries forced him to miss much of last season.

Rafael Nadal boosts Olympic 2024 : The Spaniard came back from a 5-2 lead in the deciding game to win and set up a semifinal clash with Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovich on Saturday. It was the toughest test of Nadal’s physical condition since returning to the ATP Tour in April.

With his focus on returning to Roland Garros for the Summer Games later this month, where he has won 14 French Open titles, Nadal has been patient with his recent comeback after a first-round exit to Alexander Zverev at the French Open. The Spaniard skipped Wimbledon and continues his clay-court season here.

“I was not focused all the time, as you saw with the 3-0 and 5-2 [set] losses. I lost concentration for a few moments, but I was able to hold on physically until the end. That’s very important for me. Let’s see how I do tomorrow! But today I’m alive and in the semifinals.” Nadal had already this week recorded straight sets wins over Leo Borg, son of tennis great Bjorn Borg, and British No. 2 Cameron Norrie. He is aiming to win a third Olympic gold medal this summer, having won the singles tournament in Beijing and the men’s doubles with Marc Lopez at Rio 2016.

On the other hand, Danish player Holger Rune’s participation in the Olympic Games is doubtful after he retired from the Hamburg Open quarter-final against Arthur Fils. “Very sorry guys. I’ve been having problems with my knee since the incident in the first match,” Rune wrote on Instagram. “Yesterday was a bad day. Today I tried, but it wasn’t good.”

Top seed Alexander Zverev reached the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over China’s Zhang Zhizhen and will now face Spain’s Pedro Martin. At the Gstaad Open in Switzerland, Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Fabio Fognini in straight sets and will now face Matteo Berrettini in the semi-finals. Berrettini continued his comeback from injury problems by defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime in two tie-breaks.

Also Read: Rafael Nadal boosts Olympic 2024

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