ATP Tour: Impressive Nadal rallies past Norrie to reach quarters at Bastad
Spanish former World No.1 Rafael Nadal came up with his most complete performance of the 2024 season, storming into the quarterfinals of the Nordea Open here on Thursday.
Rafael Nadal bounced back 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-6(4) in his nail-biting second round-robin match against Daniil Medvedev at the ongoing ATP Finals on Wednesday.
The world number 1, who is known for his indomitable fighting spirit, looked deflated in the contest when he went down 5-1 in the deciding set against an opponent who had all the answers in their lengthy baseline rallies.
The Spaniard, however, got a new lease on life by saving a match point in the seventh game en route to holding serve and then breaking Medvedev’s serve in the ensuing game to make the score 5-3.
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”I’ve been super lucky,” Nadal was quoted as saying on the ATP Tour official website. “Sorry for Daniil. It’s a tough loss. He was playing much better than me in the third set. It’s one of these days, one out of 1,000, where you win.
”I know from my personal experience how tough it is to close out matches, especially when you have two breaks in front and you lose the first one. (At 3-5), I thought I had a chance. I think I was a little bit better in the end. In general terms, I think I was playing much better than two days ago, so that’s a very positive thing for me.”
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