Nadal into Australian Open final, one win away from record 21 Slams

Rafael Nadal has reached the final of the Australian Open, where he will face Daniil Medvedev in Melbourne on Sunday.

Nadal will be looking to clinch the cup to land a record 21 Grand Slam titles, a step over Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer who have 20 each.

The Spaniard put up a dominant start on Friday to enabled him beat Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in the Australian Open semi-finals.

Seventh seed Berrettini eventually turned the match into a contest, but Nadal completed a 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-3 win.

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Nadal’s final opponent, Medvedev, beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, and would want to stop the 35-year-old who is in his 29th Grand Slam final.

“The first two sets were some of the best I’ve played for a long time,” said Nadal, who won his only Melbourne title in 2009.

“Against a difficult opponent, a great opponent, one of the best of the world, I was able to play I think at a very high level for a long time.

“I had to suffer and I had to fight but it means a lot to be in the final again.”

Meanwhile, Djokovic and Federer did not participate in the competition.

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