Sixth seed, Rafael Nadal will face number two ranked Daniil Medvedev in in the final of the Australian Open final on Sunday and if victorious, it would be Nadal’s 21st Grand Slam title which takes him ahead of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on the all-time list. Nadal overcame a stern test from Matteo Berrettini to reach his sixth Australian Open final in Melbourne.
The 35-year-old remains on track to win a record 21st Grand Slam title in Melbourne and his first Australian Open title since 2009.
“It means a lot to me to be in the final again here,” Nadal said on court with a smile on his face.
“For me, it’s all about the Australian Open more than anything else. It’s just an amazing event that I’ve been a little bit unlucky at with some injuries in my career.
“Also, I’ve played in some amazing finals with good chances against Novak Djokovic in 2012 and Roger Federer in 2017, I was close a couple of times.
“I was very lucky to win it once in my career and I never thought about having another chance in 2022, so I’ll just try and enjoy the victory today and then just try my best.”
Medvedev qualified for a second successive Australian Open final after he overcame a mid-match meltdown to defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas yesterday.
Medvedev’s victory means he will play for a second successive Grand Slam title after his maiden success at the US Open last summer.
Following two competitive sets, Medvedev launched into an extraordinary rant at the umpire focused on his opponent allegedly receiving coaching from his father Apostolos.
“His father can talk every point?” Medvedev shouted at Jaume Campistol. “Are you stupid? I’m talking to you, look at me. How can you be so bad in the semi-final of a Grand Slam?”
Medvedev was upset that the Chair Umpire was not punishing his opponent for what he believed was coaching from the player box.
Medvedev finished his rant by then calling the official a “small cat”.
“To be honest I don’t think that bad emotions help me too much,” Medvedev said.
“When I have them, many times I lose the match because of them as you lose concentration. As soon as I did it, I thought that it was a big mistake.
“I’m happy that I managed to concentrate again and pull out some serves which brought me back into the match.
