The 35-year-old Spaniard won the semifinals on Friday against Italian Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini 6:3.6:2.3:6.6:3. In the final on Sunday against the Russian US Open winner Daniil Medvedev or the Greek world number four Stefanos Tsitsipas, Nadal can become the record winner of the Grand Slam tournaments.
Nadal, the Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic, who is expelled from Australia, and the injured Swiss Roger Federer, each have 20 wins in the four most important tournaments. For the Mallorquin it is his first Melbourne final in three years or his 29th Grand Slam final overall. “It means a lot to me to be back in the final here,” Nadal said when interviewed after his 500th hard court win at Rod Laver Arena.
13 years after his only Australian Open victory so far, Nadal’s prospects are bright, provided he is fit enough for another match. After a month-long break from the tournament and a complicated foot injury, the Spaniard can believe in a triumph: One win is missing, then the 35-year-old leaves his rivals, who were not present in Melbourne, behind in the fascinating Grand Slam title race. “For me it’s about the Australian Open – more than anything else,” said Nadal after reaching the final. “I never thought of another chance in 2022.”
“A month and a half ago I didn’t know if I’d be able to get back on the tour because we couldn’t solve the problem (the foot injury, ed.),” Nadal said as he dressed in a T-shirt with a koala and tennis racket -Imprint for the press conference appeared: “It’s a gift to just be here and play tennis. I take things a little differently now. At the end of the day, I’ll be honest, it’s more important for me to have the chance again to play tennis than to win the 21st.” That makes him happier.
Dominant start at cool temperatures
Previously, Nadal had managed a semi-final success in which he initially played remarkably dominantly and had to fight in the fourth set. Before the match it had started to rain in Melbourne, the temperature dropped from 32 to 22 degrees. The fact that it was significantly cooler in the Rod Laver Arena than in the previous days should have helped Nadal. With the roof closed, the game against Berrettini started as desired for the Spaniard: the number five in the world played terrifically for two sets against the Italian.
From the third set the match was much more balanced. Suddenly Nadal had to accept his first loss of service to 3: 5, shortly afterwards the set went to Berrettini, who was ten years his junior. There were a few memories of the quarter-finals on Tuesday, when Nadal collapsed against Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the middle of the third set with stomach problems and felt “destroyed”.
decision in the fourth set
But before the match got too complicated, Nadal grabbed. The decision came in the eighth game of the fourth set, when Berrettini favored Nadal’s ultimately decisive break with three forehand errors. The Spaniard didn’t miss the chance and converted his first match point after 2:55 hours. The fact that Nadal is now in the final of the Australian Open for the sixth time was not necessarily to be expected. Shortly before Christmas he also became infected with the corona virus.
Meanwhile, Kristina Mladenovic and Ivan Dodig won their first joint Grand Slam title in mixed in Melbourne. The French-Croatian duo defeated the Australian wildcard pairing Jaimee Fourlis and Jason Kubler 6:3,6:4 in the final.
Source: Nachrichten
