Rafael Nadal is back in action! And what a comeback it has been. The Spanish tennis legend took a break from the courts for over a month after an unexpected first-round defeat to Alexander Zverev at the French Open. While he decided to skip Wimbledon to avoid the challenges of transitioning surfaces, Nadal made his much-anticipated return on the clay courts at the Swedish Open. And his latest match was everything his fans had been waiting for.

Rafael Nadal won the first two matches of his Swedish Open run in straight sets but the quarter-final match against Mariano Navone was not a cakewalk. But in classic Nadal style, he displayed his signature blend of tenacity, precision, and sheer willpower. This mesmerized several tennis fans, as they expressed their sentiments on X. One user highlighted his willpower and wrote “Nadal, at age 38, is grinding away in the quarterfinals of a 250 event with Mariano Navone in Bastad. Up a break at 3-2 in set three, we are already at 3:17 minutes on the clock. Absolutely insane.”

Losing his first set, the ‘King of Clay’ surprised many especially because he was playing against a player whose debut was not long ago. However, he ultimately clinched the match in three sets  6(2)-7(7), 7-5, 7-5. But as soon as the above tweet gained traction, fans across the globe took to their X accounts and highlighted how great of a player Nadal has been.

Fans exhilarated over Rafael Nadal’s hard-fought win

As soon as the above tweet went viral, several fans joined in to express their delight over Nadal’s win. One of the supporters was Coco Gauff’s coach Brad Gilbert. “What a battle Vamos-Rafa vs Navone 3 hrs 9 mins  2all in the 3rd Bastad quarters,” he wrote. The fans witnessed pure vintage Nadal as he struggled but continued to keep his momentum, especially with some exceptional forehand hits in the second set. Despite losing the first set, he equaled the match in the second and ultimately emerged victorious. 

Another fan reciprocated similar sentiments and wrote, “He needs answers on what his body can tolerate and he’s willing to find out at this point.  Not taking it easy.” As Rafa is all set to play his last Paris Olympics later this month, he needs to answer a lot of questions to clinch another Gold Medal. And the biggest aspect he needs to explore is the capacity of his body which definitely can be calculated from this match.

Similar sentiments were shown by another fan. “He needs it to knock off the rust.” The Spaniard has been on and off the courts for a long time. After injuring a hip flexor at the Australian Open in 2023, he underwent surgery and missed most of his season last year. This year too, he has faced hip pain and abdominal issues and missed many important events like Wimbledon. Hence, playing a physically demanding game would be the need of the hour for him and this match did just that. One more fan joined in to highlight the significance of the match.

“This is now the longest best-of-3 match that Nadal has played in 15 years,” the user wrote. Before this four-hour-long match that Nadal played, his longest best of three match came in 2009 against Novak Djokovic. Nole and Rafa played in the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters 1000 for 4 hours and 3 minutes where the Spaniard emerged as the winning player.

Similar reactions were from yet another user who wrote, “Nadal looks really good physically, moving well. Navone is a top 40 player.” Navone is currently ranked at 36 and has demonstrated some good performance lately. He went on to enter the 2024 French Open seeded 31st, making history as the first player in the Open Era to make their main draw Grand Slam debut as a seeded player. Thus, this match against him highlights Nadal’s grandeur on the clay courts

As Nadal continues his run, it will be interesting to see if he can continue the trajectory and win the title at the Swedish Open. But what awaits further is the Paris Olympics, which Rafa would be eying the most.