Rafael Nadal overcame a worrying fall in the second set to defeat British No. 2 Cameron Norrie in straight sets in Bastad. The Spanish icon is stepping up his fitness ahead of this summer’s Olympics in Paris and looked in fine form to reach the quarter-finals, coming back from 4-1 in the second set.
Nadal skipped the grass-court season in order to stick to clay and focus on the upcoming Olympics, where he will team up with Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz to play doubles together for Spain.
The 38-year-old preserved his body by not changing surfaces, but lacks match practice as a result, despite reaching the semi-finals of the doubles competition with Casper Ruud in Sweden also.
He comfortably took the first set 6-4 against Norrie, breaking at 3-3 after a Norrie backhand landed just wide. The veteran appeared more agile and willing to come to the net than in his previous straight-sets win over Leo Borg in the last round.
Norrie threatened to break back while Nadal was serving to take the opening set. The Spaniard appeared somewhat nervous, but kept up his stellar record of never dropping a set to Norrie on clay.
Early in the second, Nadal suffered a nasty fall when chasing a point. He hit the deck and prompted fears of suffering another injury when the trainer was called, but just to tend to some cuts and bruises before Nadal returned to play.
Norrie had a big smile on his face when he broke Nadal for the first time, to lead 3-1 in the second. An impressive drop shot when moving at pace brought him to break point, before an astray forehand put the Brit in the ascendency for the first time.
Norrie showcased his ability to move across the court and claimed a big hold in the very next set. The two stars went back and forth close to the net only to end with a reaching Norrie to fire a smart forehand to win the point of the match.
Facing world No. 42 Norrie is a tough test of Nadal’s fitness, with the 28-year-old willing to fight for every point, but the 22-time Grand Slam champion also possesses the same characteristic and just as Norrie felt in command, he was immediately broken back.
That never-say-die attitude has epitomised Nadal throughout his illustrious career, who won five games in a row to take the second and final set to a huge applause.
“Great feelings,” a delighted Nadal said during his on-court interview. “It’s been a while without playing on tour.. since Roland Garros. To have the chance to compete well against a great player like Cameron, these are great feelings. I played for moments good tennis.
“For moments I needed to play more aggressive. That’s part of the journey today. I haven’t been competing very often. Matches and victories like today help to be in rhythm the whole match and put the pressure on the opponent during the whole match. That’s something I need to improve today. Because I haven’t played enough.”
