In only his second tournament since returning to the Tour following a foot injury, Rafael Nadal has sealed his place in the final of the Australian Open with a four-set win over Matteo Berrettini.
The former world No.1 was on court for almost three hours before prevailing 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, over his Italian opponent. In his latest encounter he won 73% of his first service point and hit 28 winners against 19 unforced errors. It is the sixth time Nadal has reached a final at Melbourne Park.
“I think I played the match great. The first two sets were some of my best for a long time,” said Nadal.
“He (Berrettini) is a solid player and very dangerous so in the third set I knew that he would be going for the shots. Then I didn’t play a good service game at 4-3 but he played some great shots, the passing shot down the line was unbelievable.’
“It means a lot to be in the final again.”
Playing in his seventh semi-final at Melbourne Park, Nadal dominated proceedings from the onset with the help of an impressive service display. He didn’t face a single break point in his first 12 service games before Berrettini managed to get an opportunity midway through the third set which he then converted to take the match into a fourth set. In total he only faced a total of two break points in the entire match and dropped serve only once compared to Berrettini who was broken four times.
The latest encounter was only the second time Nadal has faced the Italian on Tour after the 2019 US Open which he won in straight sets. Since then Berrettini has broken into the world’s top 10 and reached his first major final at Wimbledon last year.
“Every year he is playing better and better. He is a very charismatic player on Tour. So I wish him all the best and I think he has a great future ahead,” Nadal said of his opponent.
Nadal’s latest encounter was played under the roof as the rain pelted down in Melbourne. The conditions were also much cooler compared to that of two days ago when he was taken to five sets by Denis Shapovalov. An encounter which the Spaniard said left him ‘destroyed.’
“Well, as everybody knows I am more an outdoor than indoor player. But I think the stadium looks amazing like this closed with the amazing crowd like this is even more noises,” he said.
“I enjoy the atmosphere a lot. I can’t complain at all. I knew before the match that the roof was going to be closed.’
“A month-and-a-half I didn’t know if I was going to play tennis. It doesn’t matter if it is outdoors or indoors today. I just wanted to play and do my best.”
At the age of 35 Nadal is the fourth-oldest man in the Open Era to reach a title match of a Grand Slam. He has now won 75 matches at the Australian Open which makes it his second most successful major event after the French Open where he recorded a stunning 105 victories.
The Spaniard has a shot on Sunday at becoming the most decorated men’s player in Grand Slam history. He is currently tied with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer for the most major trophies won at 20 each. Asked about the possibility of making yet more history over the weekend, Nadal stated that he is just pleased to have a chance to do so after what has been a troublesome past few months.
“For me it is all about the Australian Open more than anything else,” he said. “It’s just an amazing event. A couple of times I have been unlucky with injuries. I have played in amazing finals with good chances. Against Novak (Djokovic) in 2012 and Roger (Federer) 2017. I was very close a couple of times and I feel lucky that I won once during my career back in 2009. I never thought about having another chance in 2022.”
Nadal will play either Daniil Medvedev or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.
