Rafael Nadal qualified for his sixth Australian Open final on Friday by beating Italian Matteo Berrettini (7th) 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 and will seek a record 21st title in Grand Slam.
“I’m only thinking of the Australian Open!” Assured the 35-year-old Spaniard, who could become the only major title record holder on Sunday (one better than his great rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic).
To try to win his second title in Melbourne, the 5th player in the world will face the Russian Daniil Medvedev (2nd) in the final on Sunday, who beat the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (4th) 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4 , 6-1 in a tense and spectacular match.
It will be his 29th Grand Slam final, two lengths behind Djokovic and Federer’s record.
Last year, Nadal was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Tsitsipas after leading 2 sets to 0.
On Friday, after comfortably winning the first two sets, Nadal had a slight downturn in the third, where he committed 7 unforced errors, or half of the 14 committed over the first three sets.
In the 4th set, Nadal broke to lead 5-3 and serve for the match. He did not miss his chance.
Medvedev can also go down in history
If he wins the title on Sunday, he would also become the second player in the Open era, the fourth in history, to have won each of the Majors at least twice. A feat achieved by Djokovic last year when he won Roland-Garros for the second time.
Berrettini was playing, at 25, his second Grand Slam semi-final, after Wimbledon in 2021, where he reached the final.
For his part, Medvedev, finalist last year in Melbourne and winner of the last United States Open, can become on Sunday the first player of the Open era (since 1968) to win his first two Grand Slam titles in quick succession. .
Remember that the 25-year-old Russian had deprived Djokovic of a 21st Major with his victory at Flushing Meadows, but also of the Grand Slam, since he had successively won the Australian Open, Roland-Garros and Wimbledon.
Photo credit: AFP
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