The warm sun continued to bless the crowd as the second match of Day 5 commenced. Former world No.1 Rafael Nadal beat 4th seed Argentine Mariano Navone 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 7-5. The first meeting between the pair became the second-longest 3-set match won by the Spaniard at 3 hour and 59 minutes. 

Nadal, looking to make his first semi final appearance since 2022 Wimbledon (W/O to Kyrgios), won the toss and chose to serve but dropped his opening three games giving Navone a hefty advantage to go up 4-1. Nadal played aggressive to get two breaks back and level 5-5, denying Navone to close the set. After 1 hour 11 minutes Nadal had one of two set points but Navone held serve to force a tiebreak. The young Argentinian (23), aiming to become the lowest rank player to beat Nadal on clay since No. 45 Cuevas in 2016 Rio de Janeiro, played an inspired tiebreak to win 7-6 (7-2). 

Unfettered, in the second set Nadal broke twice early to go up 3-0. However, Navone at the other end grew in confidence, broke back and put himself in a good position to serve for the match. If there is a player who knows how to dig deep, it is Nadal. He broke the Argentine and won the set 7-5. 

Third set began with the same pattern — breaks of serve exchanged. The fifth game proved to be vital with Nadal converting on the fifth break points. Navone took a tumble at 4-2 following which he handed Nadal a break to force the Spaniard to serve for the match. Nadal forfeited the next two opportunities to serve out the match making this the second longest 3-set match just 14 seconds shy of four hours (Madrid semi-final, w. to Djokovic)   

During the post match speech, a jovial Nadal summarised the match well. “First set he was in control, second set I was in control and on the third no one was in control!” 

With the conclusion of this match, the first semi final of the Båstad Open is set between Rafael Nadal and Duje Ajdukovic.