MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal moved within one match of a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam men’s singles title by defeating Matteo Berrettini of Italy in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Nadal, the 35-year-old Spanish star, is tied with his longtime rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic for the men’s record. However, neither Federer nor Djokovic played in this year’s tournament.
Federer is still recovering from knee surgery and Djokovic, a nine-time Australian Open champion, was deported on the eve of the tournament after his visa was revoked by the Australian government and his appeal was rejected.
It gives the Spaniard an opportunity to go clear at the top and add to his lone 2009 Melbourne Park crown in his sixth Australian Open final.
The 35-year-old tennis star was too solid for the Italian seventh seed, winning 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours 55 minutes, and will face either Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final.
“For me it’s all about the Australian Open more than anything else, it’s an amazing event,” Nadal said, adding, “I have been a little unlucky during my career with some injuries and I played in some amazing finals here with some good chances against Novak in 2012 and Roger in 2017, I was close a couple of times.”
He continued, “I feel very lucky that I won once in my career in 2009, but I never thought about another chance in 2022. So I’ll just try to enjoy today’s victory and try my best in the final.”
It has been an extraordinary effort from Nadal at the year’s opening major, having to modify his game to compensate for a degenerative bone disease in his left foot that ended his 2021 season last August. He then caught Covid in December which, he said, made him “very sick”.
