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Rafael Nadal has reached his first semifinal in two years after a four-hour quarterfinal at the Nordea Open in Bastad.

Nadal fought his way through 6-7 (2-7), 7-5 and 7-5 against 36th-seeded Argentine Mariano Navone after leading 5-2 in the deciding set.

Brilliant tennis between the two resulted in a tiebreak in the first set, in which the Argentinian fought with all his might to take the lead.

After two breaks in the second set and a 3-0 lead, Nadal then lost four games in a row and his level dropped dramatically.

Nadal managed another break to make it 6-5 and then kept his nerve to equalize the match.

The 22-time Grand Slam winner failed to serve to win the match in his first attempt, but he managed to win the tie on his second attempt.

“I lost my concentration for a few moments, but I was able to physically hold on until the end,” Nadal said in an on-court interview. “This is so important for me. Let's see how I feel tomorrow, but today I'm alive and in the semifinals.”

Nadal, 38, is playing his first tournament since his first-round loss at the French Open and is preparing for the Paris Olympics on clay at Roland Garros.

In his first semifinal since Wimbledon 2022, Nadal will face Croatian qualifier Duje Ajdukovic on Saturday.

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