Australian Open: Rafael Nadal in the footsteps of Roger Federer?
Rafael Nadal is still missing two wins for his 21st Grand Slam title. Memories of RogerFederer's successful run in 2017 are awakened.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Jan 27, 2022, 04:31 pm
"Don't tell anyone... here I am." With these words, Rafael Nadal announced the start of his stay in Australia on December 31, 2021. The fact that the Spaniard is still in Melbourne about a month later borders on a small tennis miracle in view of his previous history: Due to a long-term foot injury, Nadal has not played an official match since the beginning of August, and there was even a career end in the room. In addition, the Spaniard became infected with the corona virus after the invitation tournament in Abu Dhabi, which resulted in fever and a few days in bed.
And yet Nadal is now in the semifinals of the Australian Open. But not without another miracle, as the 35-year-old himself said after his five-set win against Denis Shapovalov. Towards the end of the second set, the physical condition of the fifth in the world rankings deteriorated rapidly, but thanks to a strong service and the strong help of Shapovalov, he was still able to win the fifth set.
Overall, Nadal's previous performances in Melbourne are strongly reminiscent of the man who is one of the big absentees this year: Roger Federer. In 2017, the Swiss sensationally stormed to the title at the Australian Open after a six-month injury break, in the final he even turned a 1: 3 deficit against feared opponent Nadal in the fifth round.
Nadal in the semifinals against Berrettini
Five years later, it seems like luck is returning to Nadal. However, a mammoth task awaits the 20-time Grand Slam winner with Matteo Berrettini in the semifinals. Should Nadal also prevail against the Italian, it would be in the final against Daniil Medvedev or Stefanos Tsitsipas. The body should apparently no longer cause any problems for the 35-year-old: on Thursday Nadal was already training again at the usual intensity.
In any case, Nadal is not affected by the fact that with a triumph at the Australian Open he could also leave Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer behind in the all-time major list: "It won't frustrate me if Roger or Novak end up with more Grand Slam Have titles than me. (...) And you can't always just be jealous when your neighbor has a bigger house or a better cell phone."
Here is the individual tableau at the Australian Open
laver arena