Rafael Nadal stayed on track for a men’s record 21st Grand Slam singles title when he won Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in Australian Open semi-final.
Nadal dominated throughout first two sets, moving the Italian around the court, dictating the game. After Nadal took a 4-0 lead in the second set, No. 7 Berrettini won only one point on the second serve in 11 tries.
500th hard court victory
With Roof closed at Rod Laver Arena Due to heavy local rain and subsequent high humidity in the building, the ball was heavy and flat, which helped Nadal keep the ball in play. Almost all of the long plays in the first two sets went the way of the Spanish left-hander with the sixth number.
But Berrettini spun in the middle of the third set. With no break point up to this point, Berrettini made three in the eighth game of the third set and converted his second to take a 5-3 lead. He then pitched in the next game, scoring four points in a row, and the match went into the fourth set.
Nadal took control again when he broke Berrettini’s serve in the eighth game of the fourth set. Then he held to complete the match, then waved his hand three times in celebration.
Beat 20 Federer and Djokovic Grand Slams
Nadal associated with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on 20 major singles titles. Nadal will play the winner of the late semi-final between Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas at the end of Sunday night.
It was Nadal’s 500th victory in a brilliant hard court career.
Nadal missed six months of last season due to injury and was extremely emotional after the win and said the first two sets were his best in a long time.