Rafael Nadal beat Matteo Berrettini in the Australian Open semifinals, sets up final with Daniil Medvedev on Sunday night
By Kehinde Okeowo
World number six, Rafael Nadal zoomed into the Australian Open final, after defeating Italian tennis star, Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the first of the semifinals.
Nadal dominated the first two sets and won them before the Italian rallied back to win the third set 6-3, the Spaniard however won the fourth set to stay on track for a men’s-record 21st Grand Slam singles title.
The heavy rain forced the closure of Rod Laver Arena’s roof, leading to high humidity in the building, the resultant heavy and flat balls helped Nadal keep the ball in play, winning nearly all of the long rallies in the first two sets in the process.
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But Berrettini turned the game around midway through the third set. winning the set after holding his serve and sending the match to a fourth set.
Nadal then took control of the match again when he broke his opponent’s serve in the eighth game of the fourth set and then held on to win the match.
Nadal is currently tied with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on 20 major singles titles. He will make history as the first tennis player to win 21 Grand Slams if he wins the final against Daniil Medvedev on Sunday.
Rafael Nadal missed around six months last season due to injury and predicted he might not be able to participate in this year’s Australian Open but here he is in the final.
The Spaniard, who was emotional after the semifinal win, became the favourite to win the tournament after world number one, Novak Djokovic was sent packing from Australia Open after he was found guilty of covid-19 related infractions.