He previously overcame Bjorn Borg’s son, British player Cameron Norrie, and Mariano Navone. The 22-time Grand Slam champion, who has postponed retirement plans, faced Croatian world No. 130 Ajdukovic a day after a grueling four-hour match, which must have been demanding on his aging body.

In a thrilling contest, Nadal fought back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 against Ajdukovic. This marks his first final appearance since capturing his record-extending 14th French Open title in June 2022. Nadal will now compete against either Nuno Borges or Thiago Agustin Tirante in the Bastad final.

"It’s always a great feeling to be in a final," Nadal said. "I won four matches in a row. I wasn’t able to make that happen since two years ago. A lot of things happened. That’s the truth.

"Still in this process of recovering a lot of things I lost because I had a very important hip surgery almost one year ago, so things aren’t going that easy. But I’m fighting. I fought the whole tournament to be where I am today. Matches like yesterday and today help to improve a lot of things on court. Happy with that. Let’s see if I’m able to play a little better tomorrow."

Nadal started poorly, falling 3-0 behind with an early double break, but rallied to win two games in a row. Despite closing to 4-3, Ajdukovic held firm and served out the set 6-4 after 45 minutes. Nadal responded to the challenge by breaking back in the second game to level at 1-1, then held serve in the third game to go ahead 2-1, gaining the lead in the second set after 14 minutes.

The Spaniard began to take control, securing a 5-2 lead in the second set before closing it out 6-3. In the third set, Nadal surged ahead to a 3-0 lead, but Ajdukovic fought back by breaking Nadal’s serve.

Ajdukovic then pulled off a dramatic double break to level the third set at 3-3, leaving Nadal frustrated with the possibility of squandering his advantage. However, Nadal’s legendary prowess shone through as he regrouped and secured the decisive set 6-4 to reach the Bastad final.

"I think it was a tough match," Nadal added. "The opponent had one of the best backhands I’ve played against. He came here with a lot of confidence. I was trying to push him back. It was very difficult. I found a way to survive and be through to the final after a long time without being in a final. That’s great news and I’m very, very happy with that."