Melbourne:
20 times Grand Slam champions Rafael Nadal will be up against world number 2 Daniil Medvedev in the final of the ongoing Australian Open on Sunday.
An
emotional Nadal
was keen to put things into perspective after the win, reflecting on his journey to yet another Grand Slam championship match after struggling with a foot injury for the second half of the 2021 season.
“It’s amazing, and
I’m super happy
to be able to compete for the past three weeks at the level that I am doing,” Nadal said in his post-match press conference, as per atptour.com. “It’s surprising for me to be able to play at the level that I am playing. Just competing and playing tennis at this high level again, facing the most important players of the world, it’s unbelievable.”
Meanwhile, the Russian player said he is ready to show his best as he will face yet another 20 times Grand Slam winner.
“I’m going to play once again
against one of the greatest
. What’s funny is that again I’m going to play someone going for the 21st Slam [after beating Djokovic in New York]” said Medvedev after winning the clash of the semi-final.
“I think Novak will be watching this one in two days also. Grand slam finals are always special and I played Rafa in my first at the US Open and we played five hours. We’ve played a few matches since then but I am ready to show my best,” he added.
Nadal is “supper happy” to reach this level and he is planning to win. “For me, it’s something completely unexpected, so I am super happy. I always try my best. My goal now is to win. [But] I am taking things in a little bit of a different way now. Of course, with the competitive spirit that I have, I can’t go against that. It’s my personal DNA,” said Nadal.
“But in some ways, [just to] be able to have the chance to compete at this level, it’s positive energy for me to keep going, because being very honest, for me, it is much more important to have the chance to play tennis than win number 21,” he added.
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