Nadal, Medvedev will meet in final
Russian player accused Tsitsipas’ father of illegally coaching his son from the sidelines
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA Rafael Nadal moved within one match of a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam men’s singles title by defeating Matteo Berrettini of Italy, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
The sixth-seeded Nadal will face No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final, the latest clash between the old guard and new wave in men’s tennis.
Medvedev also won in four sets Friday, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. But Medvedev’s victory was considerably more tempestuous than Nadal’s. After losing his serve in the ninth game of the second set and receiving a code violation for a visible obscenity that he said was misinterpreted, Medvedev shouted angrily at chair umpire Jaume Campistol for most of the changeover, suggesting that Tsitsipas’ father was illegally coaching his son from the player box.
“Are you stupid? His father can talk every point?” Medvedev said from his chair, screaming “Look at me!” at the Spanish official when Campistol turned his gaze back toward the court to try to defuse the situation.
It was an extraordinary outburst, a flashback to combustible champions of the past like John McEnroe. Medvedev said after the match that he regretted the way he has sometimes treated chair umpires.
“I regret it all the time, because I don’t think it’s nice,” he said. “I know that every referee is trying to do their best. But, yeah, when you are there, tennis, you know, we don’t fight with the fists, but tennis is a fight. It’s a one-on-one against another player. So I’m actually really respectful to players who never, almost never show their emotions because, I mean, it’s tough, it’s tough, because I get, I can get really emotional.”
Medvedev said he could not be certain that Apostolos Tsitsipas was coaching his son. He said all he could hear was his commentary during the match in Greek, which Medvedev does not speak. But tournament officials soon stationed Greek umpire Eva AsderakiMoore in a tunnel within earshot of the players’ box. When Tsitsipas eventually received a warning for coaching early in the fourth set, he did not win another game, and Medvedev accelerated to the finish.
“Many times I lose the match because of this,” Medvedev said of his tantrum. “Lose concentration and too much energy, so as soon as I’ve done it, I was like that’s a big mistake.”
Tsitsipas, who has said in the past that his relationship with Medvedev is frosty, smiled when asked about Friday’s outburst.
“It’s for sure funny,” he said. “I don’t pay attention to this stuff. Players like to do this stuff to throw you off mentally. Could be maybe a tactic. It’s all right. He’s not the most mature person.”
Tsitsipas, who has received several coaching violations in recent seasons, said he was not being coached Friday even if he believes it should be allowed in men’s tennis.
“I cannot hear anything when I’m playing and having the crowd be so loud every single point,” he said.
He said that he had spoken with his father to try to stop him from talking during his matches.
“My father, look, he’s a person that when he gets into something when there is a lot of action, his medicine is to talk, and you can’t stop it,” Tsitsipas said. “It’s something that he does from nature. I’ve talked to him about it. I’ve tried.”
Sunday’s duel with Nadal will be a rematch of the gruelling 2019 U.S.
Open final that Nadal won in five sets. Nadal, 35, the Spanish star, is tied with his longtime rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic for the men’s Grand Slam record.
But neither Federer nor Djokovic played in this year’s tournament. Federer is still recovering from knee surgery and Djokovic, a ninetime Australian Open champion, was deported on the eve of the tournament after his visa was revoked by the Australian government and his appeal was rejected.
Nadal now has a 2-0 record against Berrettini, the strapping 25year-old Italian who has a big serve and heavy forehand and plenty of charisma, but also has a comparatively weak backhand that Nadal exploited repeatedly.
Berrettini had no break points on Nadal’s serve until the eighth game of the third set, but with Nadal serving at 3-4, Berrettini sprinted to his right and hit a forehand passing shot winner down the line that appeared to surprise both men. Nadal was soon serving at 0-40 and two points later, Berrettini was able to break him for the first time, slapping a forehand winner.
He then served out third set, baring his teeth to his support team as he strutted past Nadal to his chair before the fourth set.
“He’s a very solid player, very dangerous,” Nadal said. “And in the third, I knew at some point he is going to go for the shots. I didn’t play a good game with my serve at 3-4, but he played some great shots. The passing shot down the line was unbelievable.”
But the patterns of play were still in Nadal’s favour as he continued to focus his attacks on Berrettini’s backhand. The Italian did hit a twohanded winner to get to 15-30 on Nadal’s serve in the opening game of the fourth set, but Nadal won a cat-and-mouse exchange on the next point as Berrettini missed a backhand slice off a good drop shot.
Though Berrettini kept hustling and ripping through his forehands, he could not sustain his comeback, losing his serve in the eighth game of what turned out to be the final set.
“We need to suffer and we need to fight,” Nadal said, summing up his philosophy over his nearly 20-year career. “That’s the only way I am where I am today.”