Rafael Nadal closes with a aceafter 1h 44m of intense work against the British Cameron Norrie, and he sums up from the centre of the Swedish court. “I haven’t competed since Roland Garros, so having the opportunity to play against someone like him is good news. At times I have played good tennis, and at others I should have been a bit more aggressive, but it is part of the process. Maintaining that aggressiveness and that pressure on the opponent is something I have to keep improving; maintaining this rhythm, because I haven’t played enough yet… I haven’t competed much, so matches and victories like today’s help,” says the Spanish tennis player, qualified for the quarter-finals of the Bastad tournament (double 6-4) and will meet this Friday (not before 13.00, Movistar+) with the Argentine Mariano Navone (6-4 and 6-2 against Sumit Nagal).
Nadal continues to readapt and gradually regain his automatisms. And, after the first day’s test against the helpless Leo Borg, a much more serious test against Norrie, who, by the way, has been losing the competitive drive that led him to the top-10 already at the highest levels of the major tournaments; in any case, a rival (today 42nd) much more propitious to continue to oil himself and reincorporate everything that, when a tennis player moves away from the competition, whether due to force majeure or by voluntary decision, he loses and that is so basic: elementary control of distances, timing when hitting the ball and the naturalness in the maneuvers. So the rust is logical.
At certain points, Nadal seems disoriented, losing his basic spatial references and slower to react than usual. He does not resort to the three drop shots suggested by Norrie, a player who controls the clay and tries to strike first, more decisively. However, the ultra-refined instinct of the Balearic player (38 years old) is more than enough to avoid the first attack of his rival and, then, in the seventh game, to decide the initial set with a break that reverses the script of the duel. The same thing happens in the continuation, but in the opposite direction. It is Nadal who is in tune and proposes more, but the British player escapes (4-1). Then the unbreakable tenacity and expansive backhand of the winner, who hurt his elbow after a bad fall, emerge. Without consequences.
Five games in a row, and on we go. “I feel that at the beginning of the match he was a little bit better than me, because he was winning his serves easily and I was suffering a little bit more to do it, but I managed to get the break. At the start of the second set, I played better than him and I started to get break points, but it was he who managed to break; I told myself that it was 1-4, but it could have been 4-1 perfectly. So I had to keep doing what I was doing; be a bit more aggressive with my backhand, because with my forehand (22 winners) I am very happy and with my serve, too,” said the 261st in the world, who also noted that Navone (36th), the next challenge, “is playing very well this year and winning a lot on clay.”
Also present in the doubles draw, alongside Norwegian Casper Ruud, he will take to the court twice on Friday with the aim of regaining the momentum lost after the Paris break, where he will return shortly for the Games. This latest episode leaves before us a confirmation that, as well known as it is, does not lose an ounce of value: whatever happens, more or less time passes and between absences, Nadal does not lose his nose. He is not the only Spaniard in the running. Roberto Carballés (54th) will face another Argentine, Thiago Agustín Tirante (121st), on the same tournament scale.
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