Rafael Nadal beats Matteo Berrettini in four-set thriller to reach his sixth Australian Open final as the Spaniard moves closer to 21st Slam victory to edge ahead of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic
Rafael Nadal progressed to his sixth Australian Open final with a four-set victory over Italy‘s Matteo Berrettini in Melbourne.
The Spaniard, 35, who didn’t even know if he would make the first Slam of the year a few months ago because of a foot issue, won 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-3.
Having scraped through a dramatic quarter-final contest with Denis Shapovalov a couple of days ago, there were doubts over how well Nadal would recover.
Rafael Nadal celebrates winning match point as he progressed into the Australian Open final
The Spaniard soaks up the applause of the crowd on Rod Laver Arena after his four set win
But after two sets he was in complete control of the match, which was played under the roof at the Rod Laver Arena with Melbourne hit by thunderstorms.
Berrettini fought back to win the third set but Nadal dug deep to prevail in four and is now only one match away from becoming the first man to win 21 Grand Slam singles titles.
He will face either the US Open champion Daniil Medvedev or the French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday’s final.
More to follow.