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Nadal, Medvedev to meet in history-making Australian final
Nadal, Medvedev
Rafael Nadal is within one victory of a men's record 21st Grand Slam singles title. The 35-year-old Spaniard advanced to the Australian Open final for the sixth time with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over seventh-seeded Matteo Berrettini on Friday. He'll have to beat U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev on Sunday to make history.
Melbourne: Rafael Nadal is within one victory of a men's record 21st Grand Slam singles title. The 35-year-old Spaniard advanced to the Australian Open final for the sixth time with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over seventh-seeded Matteo Berrettini on Friday. He'll have to beat U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev on Sunday to make history.
And Medvedev is chasing a piece of history of his own after reeling off the last five games to defeat Stefanos Tsitispas 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a heated semifinal. He's aiming to be the first man in the Open era to win his second Grand Slam title at the next major tournament.
The second-seeded Medvedev has had an emotional and challenging run to back-to-back Australian Open finals. He had to deal with a hostile crowd in his second-round win over Nick Kyrgios, had to save a match point and rally from two sets down to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in a nearly five-hour quarterfinal win, and had to regain his composure after an angry outburst at the umpire on Friday.
He yelled at chair umpire Jaume Campistol after dropping serve in the second set, demanding that Tsitsipas be cautioned for receiving coaching from his father in the crowd. He took a five-minute break after dropping the set, took control late in the third set and then dominated the last five games after Tsitsipas was eventually cautioned for getting coaching from the stands.
Nadal's run to a 29th Grand Slam final has been comparatively serene. After the last point, he stopped, beamed a wide grin and then punched the air three times.
Nadal arrived in Australia not knowing how long he would last after months off the tour dealing with a serious foot injury and then a bout of COVID-19. He skipped Wimbledon after losing in the French Open semifinals to Novak Djokovic, and didn't play at all after August.
"Every day has been an issue in terms of problems on the foot. Doubts still here ... probably for the rest of my career because I have what I have and that's something that we cannot fix," Nadal said. Last month, he wasn't even sure he'd be able to return to the tour. But he won a tune-up tournament in Melbourne to start 2022 and has taken six straight matches at the first Grand Slam event of the year.
