Melbourne:
Tennis great Rafael Nadal is on the brink of realising his dream of becoming the first man in history to win 21 Grand Slam titles as he stormed into the final of the Australian Open 2022.
The Spaniard defeated Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the semi-final here at the Rod Laver Arena to storm into his sixth Australian Open final. The 35-year-old Nadal brought out his A-game in the first set, and he showed impeccable talent with his forehand and backhand, winning the first set 6-3.
“For me, it’s all about the Australian Open more than anything else, it’s an amazing event,” Nadal said.
“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 2017, I was close a couple of times.”
“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,” he added.
The 20 times Grand Slam winner Nadal continued with his momentum and he did not give his Italian opponent any chance, winning the second set quite comprehensively. Nadal brought out his vintage forehand play and he was just one set away from marching onto the finals.
Berrettini staged a comeback in the third set, and he dominated Nadal, sending the match into the fourth set. For the first time in the match, the Spaniard looked a bit frustrated. This was the first time that Berrettini managed to win a set against Nadal.
However, world number 5 Nadal did not get flustered by the third set, and he raised his game-winning fourth set and hence the match to progress into the finals.
“I started the match playing great, the first two sets were one my best for a long time, and I knew Matteo was a very solid player, very dangerous and I knew at some point in the third set he was going to go for his shots,” Nadal said.
“It means a lot to me to be in the final again here,” he added after he registered the win against Berrettini.
Nadal will now take on the winner of the second semi-final between Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
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