Rafael Nadal booked his place in the Swedish Open semi-finals after coming from behind to deny Mariano Navone in Bastad. (More Tennis News)
The 22-time major winner recovered from losing the opening set to prevail 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 7-5 in just under four hours on Centre Court.
Nadal was slow out of the blocks against the fourth seed, who broke his opponent three times in the opening set for a 4-1 lead.
The Spaniard dug deep and responded to lead 6-5 but Navone - a finalist on clay in Rio and Bucharest - dominated the tie-break 7-2 to draw first blood.
Both players continued to struggle on serve in the second set, with Nadal crucially breaking in game 11 before holding to level.
The 37-year-old recovered from an early break in the decider, reeling off five successive games for a 5-2 lead. Navone fought back to 5-5, but was broken in the following game with Nadal subsequently serving out to set up a semi-final clash with Duje Ajdukovic.
Data Debrief: Comeback king Nadal seals semi-final return
Not since Wimbledon in 2022 had Nadal reached an ATP semi-final, withdrawing on the eve of his clash with Nick Kyrgios due to an abdominal injury.
His hopes of doing so seemed bleak early on, with world number 36 Navone threatening to become the lowest-ranked player to beat him on clay since 2016.
However, the 22-time major winner dug deep, and is now just two wins away from his first silverware since landing a 14th French Open crown 25 months ago.
