Rafael Nadal produced a magnificent performance to edge Mariano Navone in the quarter final of the Swedish Open.
The Spaniard, who’s playing his first tournament since Roland Garros in Bastad, Sweden this week, battled past No. 36-ranked Mariano Navone in a four-hour marathon, 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-5, to move through to the semifinals of the ATP 250 clay-court event.
It was just minutes away from becoming the longest best-of-three match of his career—that honor goes to his 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9) victory over Novak Djokovic in the semifinals in Madrid in 2009, which lasted a ridiculous four hours and three minutes.
Both matches rank among the Top 5 longest best-of-three-sets ATP matches since the ATP began recording match times in 1991.
