Rafael Nadal defeats Matteo Berrettini to reach Australian Open final : Today
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| Rafael Nadal |
At 35 years old, Nadal is trying to win his 21st Grand Slam trophy, which would make him an isolated record holder in number of titles, surpassing the 20 achievements of rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. The Serbian and Swiss have two more Grand Slam finals than the Spaniard.
This Friday's victory was also special for Nadal for two other reasons. He celebrated his 500th hard court triumph and 75th Australian Open victory. The former world number 1 and current fifth-placed man is seeking his 90th title on the circuit and his second of the season. Three weeks ago, he won an ATP 250 also played in Melbourne.
Nadal has nine straight wins at the start of 2022, a situation in contrast to the fact that the Spaniard's presence was called into question before the tournament, first by the left foot injury that compromised his performance throughout the second half of 2021 and then by the recent diagnosis of Covid-19 in December.
Nadal's opponent in the final scheduled for next Sunday will come from the match between Russian Daniil Medvedev, vice-leader of the ranking, and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, fourth. In both cases, the Spaniard has an advantage in the history of clashes, 3-1 against the Russian and 7-2 against the Greek.
The eliminated Berrettini, on the other hand, was trying to play in his second Grand Slam final. The 25-year-old Italian, number 7 in the world, was a finalist at Wimbledon in 2021. He played in his third semi-final, being surpassed by Nadal both this Friday in Australia and at the 2019 US Open, in the only previous duel between them. Berrettini will gain a position in the rankings, taking the sixth place, but remains without beating opponents of the top 10 in Grand Slam.
