Rafael Nadal comeback builds in Bastad, scores Nordea Open victory over Cameron Norrie

Rafael Nadal continued his unbeaten week in Båstad on Thursday, scoring a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Cameron Norrie to reach his second ATP quarterfinal of the season at the Nordea Open.

"I've been a while since playing on the tour, since Roland Garros, so to have the chance to compete well again against a great player like Cameron is a great feeling," Nadal said on court after the match. "I think I played for moments good tennis; for moments, I need to play more aggressive, but it's part of the journey today."

The 22-time Grand Slam champion, who is doing double duty in the singles and doubles draws, won the final five games and 16 of the final 19 points to upset the No. 5 seed and former world No. 8 in one hour and 42 minutes on Center Court.

"I haven't been competing very often so matches and victories like today help keep me in rhythm. Holding the pressure on opponents is something I need to improve because I haven't played enough!"

The former world No. 1, who began the season with a quarterfinal run in Brisbane, is in the midst of preparing for what will likely be his third and final appearance at a Summer Olympic Games, poised to compete in Paris having won gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing. Sitting out the Wimbledon Championships to focus on clay, Nadal entered his first tournament since Roland Garros in Båstad, a tournament he won back in 2005.

Playing singles and doubles with former No. 2 Casper Ruud, Nadal has thrilled the Swedish crowd throughout the week, winning a full-circle singles match against Leo Borg—son of Bjorn Borg, a six-time Roland Garros champion who held the record for most terre battue titles before Nadal—and saving a match point to win a second doubles match over Theo Arribage and Roman Safiullin after upsetting No. 2 seeds Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela.

Norrie would prove his biggest challenge yet: despite leading the Brit 4-1 in their head-to-head, Norrie won their most recent meeting at the 2023 United Cup, one of only two tournaments Nadal played that year before shutting down his season due to a hip injury. A former BNP Paribas Open champion and Wimbledon semifinalist, Norrie has performed solidly on clay in years past, winning an ATP 500 title at the 2023 Rio Open.

Nadal nonetheless enjoyed a strong start; with his wife Maria and young son watching in the stands, the 38-year-old earned the lone break of the opening set, staving off a pair of break points as he served his way to a one-set lead.

"In some ways at the beginning of the match I felt he was a little better than me," Nadal said. "He was winning his serves easily and my serves, I was suffering a little more. But I was a player who made the break."

Norrie saved a break point in the opening game of second set and turned the tables on Nadal from there, winning a highlight reel-worthy point to consolidate a 4-1 lead.

"I played a bad game and he played a good game," Nadal said flatly. "But I said, 'Ok, it's 4-1; it could be 4-1 for me too, so I just need to keep doing the things that I'm doing, probably play more aggressive with my backhand, which I think at the end worked a little bit better and that makes the difference."

Facing the prospect of a final set, Nadal battled back with a break of his own, jamming Norrie off the backhand side to even proceedings at four games apiece.

Though Norrie snapped a run of 12 straight points against him, Nadal was undaunted and nabbed a fourth straight game with a powerful backhand putaway. Barreling towards the finish line, Nadal secured victory with an ace to book a quarterfinal clash with No. 4 seed Mariano Navone.

"He's a player who is playing so well this year, winning a lot of matches, especially on clay. In the quarterfinals of such a historic event like Båstad, you can't expect easy opponents. I'm just trying to improve a little bit every day. I know it'll be a tough one but I hope to play good tennis and give all of myself."