Rafael Nadal has had a proper “farewell tour” week in Bastad—maybe the first he’s had all year

Did you know Rafael Nadal had jokes? After 20 years of piling up majors and grinding down opponents, it seems he’s ready to show off his lighter side as he starts his ride into the sunset.

Before his first-round match this week in Bastad, Sweden against Leo Borg, Rafa said he texted Leo’s legendary father, Bjorn. He told his Laver Cup captain that he needed to be confident for that competition, so if Bjorn is “giving the boy good tactics, I’m not going!”

“Only jokes, only jokes,” Rafa quickly made clear, as if anyone could have thought otherwise.

After winning his first-round doubles match with Casper Ruud, the Spaniard indulged in a little buddy-buddy banter with the Norwegian. First, Ruud said that Rafa is “getting old” and may not be able to handle rain delays the way he once did. Then Rafa, after being asked about Spain’s victory in the Euros, smiled and told Ruud he “hoped to see Norway in the important competitions” in the future.

Finally, on Friday, Nadal survived a three-hour-and-59 minute epic against Mariano Navone. The quarterfinal see-sawed back and forth half-a-dozen times. Twice, Rafa was broken while serving for the match, before  holding for a 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-5 win. Asked for his thoughts on the match, Nadal found some levity through his exhaustion.

“For moments, I was in control. For moments, he was in control. At the end, no one was in control,” he said with a laugh.

That was an accurate assessment, but it didn’t do justice to the monumental effort put in by both guys.

They played 262 points, many of which were extended in length, and sent each of them sliding from one sideline to the other. Nadal had two set points in the first set, but tightened up on both. Navone was three points from victory in the second set, before Rafa rallied to win the last three games. In the third, Nadal led by two breaks at 5-2, until Navone loosened up again and leveled it at 5-5.

Finally, on his third try, Nadal closed with what may have been his best game of the match, which included two deft backhand-volley winners.

“There were changing dynamics in every single set,” Nadal said. “I was not focused for all the time. I lost for some moments the concentration.”

Despite those lapses, this has been a proper “farewell tour” type of week for Nadal—maybe the first he’s had all year. In Bastad, he’s revisiting a tournament that he played in his earliest years on tour, and which he won in 2005. His mother, father, wife and son are with him. He’s enjoyed playing doubles with his good friend Ruud; they’re scheduled to play the semifinals on Saturday, but we’ll see if he’s ready for that. And he’s won three straight singles matches, including one over former Top Tenner Cam Norrie, and Friday’s grueling physical test from Navone, who is 15 years his junior, and who is another in a long line of recent opponents who grew up idolizing him.

“Today I am alive and in the semifinals,” a relieved Nadal said today.

All of which is good news, because Rafa’s season will get a lot more serious in a week. That’s when he’ll head back to Paris with Spain’s Olympic team. Nadal is scheduled to play singles, and team up with Carlos Alcaraz in doubles. We know what Rafa has done at Roland Garros over the years; does he look ready to do it again?

It’s probably safe to say, after today, that he’s fit enough. While he did look weary in the latter stages against Navone, he also ramped his energy level back in the last two games. He says he’s happy with the way he’s hitting his forehand and backhand; his backhand in particular helped him elevate past Norrie.

“I think I played in some moments good tennis, in some moments I need to play a little bit more aggressive, but that is part of the journey today,” he said after his win over Norrie.

“To be in rhythm the whole match and hold the pressure on the opponent the whole match, that’s something that I need to improve.”

Against Navone, two vulnerabilities stood out.

First, Navone had success doing what Rafa has always done: Hitting heavy, high-bouncing forehands into his opponent’s backhand, and making him reach up above his shoulder to return the ball. At times, Nadal wasn’t confident enough to take those shots on the rise, and ended up lobbing them back and ceding control of the point. That may be a tactic others can use against him on clay in Paris.

Second, Nadal had trouble closing. He squandered set points in the first set, a two-break, 3-0 lead in the second set, and a two-break, 5-2 lead in the third. Finishing matches has been a strength for most of his career, but it has been a weakness during his down periods. By the final game against Navone, he seemed to have shaken off his nerves and regained his old clay confidence. We’ll see if that continues on Saturday, and into next week.

Speaking of Saturday, Rafa will have a quick turnaround when he faces 130th-ranked Duje Ajdukovic in the semifinals. He’ll also, possibly, partner Ruud in the doubles semis. For now, the Olympics can wait.

As Rafa said, “Let’s see how I am tomorrow.” At 38, you never know.