Rafael Nadal’s preparations for the Olympics continued with an impressive straight-set win over Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the second round of the Swedish Open.
Nadal, 38, overcame the fifth seed in Bastad 6-4 6-4 to set up a quarter-final with Argentine Mariono Navone.
The Spaniard decided to miss Wimbledon to focus on the Olympics in Paris this summer – where he will play singles and doubles with Carlos Alcaraz.
Nadal, who is set to play in the doubles semi-final with Casper Ruud on Saturday, broke Norrie once in the first set to claim the lead.
After receiving medical treatment on his arm because of a heavy fall at the start of the second set, Nadal was broken by an improving Norrie.
But Nadal, who was trailing 4-1, then reeled off five games in a row to book his spot in the last eight with his best performance of the season.
“Great feelings, it’s been a while without playing on the Tour since Roland Garros and I had a chance to compete against a great player like Cameron,” said Nadal.
“It’s part of the journey today. I haven’t been competing very often so matches like today help and holding the pressure on the opponent for the whole game is something I need to improve on because I haven’t played enough.”
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