CLAYCOURT star Rafael Nadal has reached the last eight of an ATP Tour tournament for the first time since January after an impressive straight sets defeat of Brit Cameron Norrie, 6-4 6-4. Nadal overcame a 1-4 deficit in the second set to win the last five games of the match and book his place in the Nordea Open quarter finals.

The former world number one and 22-time Grand Slam winner was clinical in his performance, serving five aces without a double fault, and winning 74 and 65 per cent of his first and second serve points. Only conceding one service game, Nadal broke three times from seven chances and capitalised off Norrie’s second serve with a 53 per cent success rate.

“Great feelings. I’ve been a while without playing on the Tour, since Roland Garros,” Nadal said post-match. “To have the chance to compete well against a great player like Cameron is a great feeling. 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.

“I haven’t been competing very often, so matches and victories like today help. 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, because I didn’t play enough.”

A wildcard at the Swedish event, Nadal knocked off the fifth seed in an hour and 43 minutes. In both instances he was forced to come from behind and reel off four out of five games and five consecutive games in sets one and two. The win took him to a 5-1 advantage over Norrie in their head-to-head.

“I feel that in some way at the beginning of the match he was a little bit better than me, because he was winning his serve quite easy, and my serve I was suffering a little bit more,” Nadal said. “But I was the player who got the break. Then in the beginning of the second set, I was playing better than him. I had break points and was more in control, but I played a bad game and he played a good game and he broke me.

“So I said to myself, ‘OK, it’s 1-4, but it could be 4-1 for me too, so I just need to keep doing the things that I am doing’. I probably played a little bit more aggressive with my backhand, which I think at the end of the match worked a little bit better. That makes the difference. With the forehand I am quite happy, and with the serve too.”

Nadal sets his sights on Argentinian Mariano Navone, ranked 36th in the world and seeded fourth at the event after he defeated Indian Sumit Nagal in straight sets 6-4 6-2. Nadal praised the 23-year-old who is in great form in 2024.

“He’s a player that is playing so well this year, winning a lot of matches, especially on clay,” Nadal said. “It is the quarter-finals of an historic event on the Tour like Bastad. You can’t expect an easy opponent. I am just focused on keeping improving every single day, trying to play every day. I know it is going to be a tough one, but I really hope to play good tennis and give myself chances.”

In other results, Kazakhstan qualifier Timofey Skatov bounced back from a shocking first set to defeat Dutchman and third seed Tallon Griekspoor, 1-6 6-3 6-4 and will now take on Portugal’s Nuno Borges who beat his young compatriot, Henrique Rocha after a similarly slow start, 1-6 6-4 6-0.