Rafael Nadal continued his Olympic preparations with a confident 6-4, 6-4 win over Cameron Norrie at the Bastad Open on Thursday, showing signs of the power hitting that fired him to 14 French Open titles.
The 38-year-old Spaniard continued his return to winning ways on the Swedish clay as he moved into the quarterfinals, racking up his ninth Tour win of the year and back-to-back wins for the first time since reaching the last-16 of the Madrid Open in April.
"Great feelings now, I've been a while now without playing on the Tour since Roland Garros and had the chance to compete well against a great player like Cameron," said Nadal during his on-court interview.
"I think I played, for moments, good tennis."
🙌 Rafa Junior approves 🙌@NordeaOpen | #NordeaOpen | @RafaelNadal pic.twitter.com/jbiGN8Pmcf
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 18, 2024
Nadal now leads the former world No 8 Briton 5-1 in their head-to-head record.
Nadal showed few signs of rustiness from the get-go against fifth-seed Norrie, clipping a superb forehand winner down the line after taking it on the half-volley behind his own baseline in the very first game.
The decisive moment of the first set came at 3-3 when the Spaniard converted his third break point to get the edge on the Briton, before holding off a late challenge by his opponent to serve out the set.
Nadal then took a tumble on his backhand side in the first game of the second set and required brief medical attention on his left elbow at the change of ends.
The 2005 Bastad champion made a quick recovery, holding serve.
But Norrie inflicted the first damage of the second set by chasing down a short ball and playing a delicate drop-shot return to set up two break points, converting the second after Nadal overhit a forehand.
Norrie confirmed the break by winning a fantastic game point at 40-15 with a cross-court backhand on the run away from the net to take a 4-1 lead.
Nadal soon showed his pedigree on the clay to break back in style, taking Norrie's serve to love and signing off the game with a thumping doublehanded-backhand passing shot.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion was unstoppable as he ground his opponent down with powerful, topspin-heavy ground strokes.
He broke Norrie again and served out to love, having won five games in a row to take the match in straight sets.
Rafa returns to the Elite 🎱@RafaelNadal triumphs 6-4 6-4 for his first quarter-final ticket since January @NordeaOpen | #NordeaOpen pic.twitter.com/yOImxXwxKj
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 18, 2024
Nadal will next face Mariano Navone in the quarterfinal, after the fourth-seed Argentinian earlier overcame India's Sumit Nagal in straight sets.
The 23-year-old world number 36 is the highest seed left in the draw after Dutch third seed Tallon Griekspoor was earlier eliminated by Kazakh qualifier Timofey Skatov.