Rafael Nadal was out for a long time because of a foot injury. Now the Spanish tennis star can triumph in the final on Sunday – and set a new record. His opponent had a freak-out during his match.
What a comeback for Rafael Nadal: The Spanish tennis star is going for his 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. That would be a new sole record. Nadal advanced to his first Melbourne final in three years on Friday thanks to a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over Italian Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini.
“It means a lot to me to be back here in the final,” Nadal said when interviewed after his 500th hard-court win at the Rod Laver Arena. The world number five will face Russian US Open champion Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final. The latter prevailed in an emotional match 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 over Greek world number four Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Medvedev ticks off: “Are you stupid? “
The world number two completely lost his cool at times and berated the umpire in the second set. “Are you crazy, are you stupid?” he said in the direction of the umpire, who allegedly overlooked coaching Tsitsipas by his father Apostolos. “He talks after every point. You have to caution him,” said Medvedev, who regained his composure and was the deserved winner in the end.
At the 2021 Australian Open, the 25-year-old had also beaten Tsitsipas in the semi-finals but then missed out on the title against world number one Novak Djokovic.
13 years after first, Nadal has chance to win second in Melbourne
Nadal had dominated the semi-final duel with Berrettini impressively for two sets, then seemed to run out of steam, but he bit through. 13 years after his only Australian Open victory to date, Nadal’s prospects are bright, provided there is enough fitness for another match. After months off the tournament and a complicated foot injury, the Spaniard can believe in the big triumph: one win missing and the 35-year-old will leave his rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who were not present in Melbourne, behind him in the fascinating Grand Slam title race. “For me it’s about the Australian Open – more than anything,” Nadal said after reaching the final. “I never thought about a second chance in 2022.”
At the moment, all three stand at 20 trophies each at the four major tournaments. Melbourne record champion Djokovic was the favourite for Australia, but the unvaccinated Serb had to leave before the tournament started because of his cancelled visa. Switzerland’s Federer is in doubt about a comeback because of his protracted knee problems.
Shortly before Nadal’s semi-final, it had started to rain in Melbourne and the temperature dropped from 32 to 22 degrees. The fact that it was much cooler in the Rod Laver Arena than on the previous days probably suited Nadal. Under the closed roof, the match began as he might have wished. The left-hander was quickly 3:0 ahead. Of course, Nadal had understood that he had better avoid Berrettini’s forehand. He often pushed the world number seven into his weaker backhand corner and got points that way. He made the most of his fourth set point.
Nadal’s strength wanes as time goes on
The 2009 Melbourne winner raced to a 4-0 lead in the second section before the Italian broke serve. Nadal chased Berrettini from left to right, his power and precise strokes keeping him in control of the first Italian men’s semi-finalist at the Australian Open.
From the third set onwards, the match was much more even. Suddenly Nadal had to accept his first loss of serve at 3:5, and shortly afterwards the set was gone. There were a few memories of the quarter-final on Tuesday, when Nadal had collapsed against the Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the middle of the third set with stomach problems and felt “destroyed”.
This time, too, his strength seemed to wane somewhat. Nadal was no longer as dominant from the baseline as he had been in sets one and two. However, he got two break chances at 4:3 thanks to Berrettini’s help. The Spaniard missed the first one, but the Italian’s forehand landed in the net on the second. It was the preliminary decision. It was not necessarily to be expected that Nadal would reach the final of the Australian Open for the sixth time. He missed Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open because of foot problems. Shortly before Christmas, he contracted the corona virus – another setback.
What it would mean to him now to leave Djokovic and Federer behind with a 21st title, Nadal was asked before the semi-final. “I don’t hope for anything anymore. I just want to keep playing because that gives me the most joy,” he replied. “I don’t think my happiness depends on whether I win more Grand Slam tournaments than others or others win more than me. “
