Rafael Nadal knocks out Matteo Berrettini and advances to his 29th Grand Slam final

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Rafael Nadal enters a little more in history. The Spaniard won his duel against the Italian Matteo Berrettini, Friday January 28, in four sets 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in less than three hours of play. thus hoists in the final of the Australian Open, his sixth in Melbourne, and his 29th in Grand Slam.

In terms of matches won, the Australian Open is Nadal’s second-best Major (behind Roland-Garros), but the least successful for him in terms of titles. He won only one (2009) while Djokovic won all nine finals he played. The two men disputed in 2012 the longest in the history of Grand Slam tournaments, the Serb winning after five hours and 53 minutes.

Rafael Nadal didn’t give up on an unrecognizable Matteo Berrettini. The 25-year-old Italian, who was playing his second Grand Slam semi-final, appeared without a solution against the Spaniard, and much less aggressive than in his previous matches, especially against Gaël Monfils in the quarters.

After comfortably winning the first two sets, Nadal had a slight slump in the third where he committed seven unforced errors, half of the 14 committed over the first three sets. And in particular, in this famous game which saw him concede the break: faults on his part and brilliant blows from his opponent, like this passing shot of a forehand at the end of the race to lead 30-0.

The Italian broke in stride and closed the round on his serve. But in the 4th set, the Majorcan put the forward gear back. Opportunistic, he took his opponent’s service at 4-3 to serve for the match. And did not miss his chance. “All I can think about is the Australian Open!” assured the Spaniard after his victory. “I played very well in the first two sets. It had been a long time since I had played so well”, underlined the one who last year was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Tsitsipas after leading two sets to nothing.

Thanks to his victory, Nadal remains in the race for a 21st Grand Slam title, which would make him the most successful tennis player in Grand Slam. He could 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 Novak Djokovic last year when he won Roland-Garros for the second time. But the Spaniard has, at least, already entered a restricted club: that of the Grand Slam finalists after celebrating their 35th birthday. He thus joins Ken Rosewall, Roger Federer, Mal Anderson and Andre Agassi.


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