Australian Championship 2022
Touching distance from the 21st Grand Slam: Rafael Nadal advanced to the Australian final
On the way to history?
The Spanish bull defeated Matteo Bartini 3: 6, 2: 6, 6: 3, 3: 6 in an impressive display and needed a lone victory to set the record for winning Grand Slam titles.
Danil Medvedev or Stefanos Tsitsipas who meet later in the day will separate him from winning a second trophy in Melbourne
Walla!
sport
28/01/2022
Friday, 28 January 2022, 08:40
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The Australian Open is already reaching the decisive stages and today (Friday) the semi-final stage began.
In the first game Rafael Nadal defeated Matteo Bartini and then Daniel Medvedev will meet Stefanos Tsitsipas.
More on Walla!
Ashley Barty will meet Daniel Collins in the Australian Championship final
To the full article
Few expected it.
Nadal (Photo: Reuters)
Showed signs of awakening, but stopped.
Bertini (Photo: GettyImages, Mark Metcalfe)
Rafael Nadal (6, Spain) - Matteo Bertini (7, Italy) 3: 6, 2: 6, 6: 3, 3: 6
Before the tournament, everything seemed to be ready to break the record for winning Grand Slam titles - only the intended happy groom was Novak Djokovic.
But then came the world number one diplomatic entanglement around his refusal to get vaccinated, and his shot from Melbourne paved the way for a scenario that no one expected, and seems very close now - breaking the record precisely by the bull from Mallorca.
Nadal did not lick honey on the way to the final, and even in the semi-final today against the quality Italian opponent he had ups and downs, but in the bottom line he arranges for himself a sixth appearance in the final in Melbourne, and will fight for a second title win.
Overall, this will be his 29th Grand Slam final appearance, and his first since the 2020 Roland Garros.
Nadal opened with a storm, mentioning forgetfulness with tremendous dominance, and winning the first two sets in less than an hour and a half.
After another break from Nadal, everything seemed ready for a smooth victory in three sets, but then Bertini woke up, won by 13 of the last 14 points of the third set, and postponed the end.
The Italian hoped to capitalize on the momentum and first act Mendel had taken in his career to equalize, but then discovered the rare character of the Spaniard, who collected himself and went on to win the fourth set and decide the entire game in almost three hours.
Nadal is still undefeated in the new year, and knows he needs one more win to record another tremendous historic achievement.
Waiting for Tsitsipas.
Medvedev (Photo: GettyImages, PAUL CROCK / AFP)
Daniel Medvedev (2, Russia) - Stefanos Tsitsipas (4, Greece), starting at 10:30
For the second time in a row these two excellent tennis players meet in the semi-finals in Australia.
Last year Medvedev needed just three sets to beat the Greek and he hopes to return to the final in Melbourne and become the first open-tennis player to win a Grand Slam title right after his first win (at the United States Championship last year).
This will be the ninth meeting between the two with Medvedev holding a 2: 6 advantage.
The Russian managed to come back from a two-set deficit in the quarter-finals against Felix Uja Eliasim, while Tsitsipas achieved a victory in three relaxed sets against Yannick Zinner in just over two hours.
For the Greek this will be his fifth appearance in the Grand Slam semi-final and third in Australia, he has won only once (at Roland Garros last year).
There was bad blood between the two in the past.
sport
tennis
Tags
Matteo Bartini
Raphael Nadal
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Daniel Medvedev
