Rafael Nadal can copy Novak Djokovic at Aus Open and do something Roger Federer never has

Rafael Nadal is preparing for his seventh career semi-final at the Australian Open this week, having won all of his last five. Matteo Berrettini is the man looking to end Nadal’s unbeaten run in the semis with the two doing battle on Friday for a place in Sunday’s final.

The Spaniard has a chequered record in the quarter-final stages in Melbourne and has crashed out in the last eight on no less than seven occasions, including in three of the past four years.

He had to survive a scare against Canada’s Denis Shapovalov on Tuesday as he squandered a two-set lead before winning the decider 6-3 to progress to the final four.

Once he gets to the semis, Nadal is a far fiercer prospect, though he has regularly failed to make the most of his strong record in the penultimate round.

Nadal has been a four-time losing finalist since beating Roger Federer in the 2009 Australian Open final, losing twice to Novak Djokovic, once to Federer and once to Stan Wawrinka.

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The 20-time Grand Slam champion’s two long-time rivals Federer and Djokovic are of course not at Melbourne Park this year, due to injury and being unvaccinated against Covid respectively.

And that means Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, the US Open champion, is the favourite to lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup for the first time in his career.

But Nadal is another strong contender for the title and faces Italy’s Berrettini in one semi-final, with Medvedev taking on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the other.

World No 6 Nadal is looking to become the first man ever to win 21 Slams, with both Federer and Djokovic tied with him on 20 at present.

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And if he is able to come out victorious Down Under, Nadal will copy Djokovic by managing a feat that the great Federer has never achieved.

Nadal is looking to reclaim his crown as the king of the Paris clay later this year having been defeated in the semi-finals by Djokovic last season.

Before then, Nadal’s focus remains on the Australian Open and the challenge ahead against Berrettini. 

The two have only ever gone head-to-head once before, in the semi-finals of the US Open back in 2019 when the Spaniard was a straight-sets winner.

Speaking of the threat his opponent poses, Nadal said: “Matteo, he’s one of the best players of the world since a while already. He’s very solid.

“I need to play my 100 per cent and my highest level if I want to keep having chances to fight, to be competitive, and to try to be in the final.”