Nadal’s warning about the Olympics as Norrie is put to death

The 38-year-old, who opted to miss Wimbledon to focus on the Games, saw his serve broken by fifth-seeded Norrie, who was looking to level the match after trailing 6-4 in the first set.

But after receiving treatment on court for his arm following a bad fall, Nadal came back to win the set 6-4, advancing to the quarterfinals, where he will face Argentine Mariono Navone.

“Great feeling, it’s been a while since I played on Tour since Roland Garros and I had the chance to compete against a great player like Cameron,” said Nadal.

“It’s part of the journey today. I haven’t played that much, so games like today help and keep the pressure on the opponent the whole game is something I have to work on because I haven’t played enough yet.”

Nadal, who plays with Carlos Alcaraz in singles and doubles in Paris, where he has won the French Open a record 14 times, broke Norrie in the first set to secure a victory that at the time seemed a routine affair.

But after falling behind in the second set, he needed a five-game winning run to advance.

In Hamburg, defending champion Alexander Zverev defeated Frenchman Hugo Gaston 4-6 6-2 7-5 to secure his place in the quarter-finals of the Hamburg Open.

Zverev struggled initially and lost the first set after 47 minutes.

He disputed a point when he thought the ball had landed twice in Gaston’s court.

“I was on the verge of completely losing my nerve a few times. You guys stopped me from doing that,” the Hamburger said after the match, thanking the home crowd for their support.

Zverev managed to recover and won the second set.

In the third set there was some discussion when Zverev initially thought Gaston’s ace was out, but the chair umpire ruled it was good. Zverev was later warned for waiting too long to serve.

Despite losing two service games in the third set, Zverev managed to win the match 6-5 after 2 hours and 35 minutes, closing with an ace on the first match point.

Zverev defended the referee, saying that people are allowed to make mistakes.

“Everyone has a bad day,” he said.

However, he advocated the introduction of video review technology.

“The bigger question is whether we have the technology to assess these kinds of things,” he said.

“I’m not sure why we’re not using it on Tour yet. These kinds of situations, these kinds of things can cost the player the match, it cost me the set today, which was a shame.”

On Friday, Zverev will face China’s Zhang Zhizhen in the next round.

with DPA