Nadal stays relaxed as Berrettini gets set to upset him

RAFAEL NADAL is relishing the opportunity to surprise as he attempts to hunt down a record 21st grand slam title at the Australian Open.

The 35-year-old only committed to travelling to Melbourne a couple of days before his flight having doubted he would be back at all while he battled foot problems last season.

But Nadal has so far been too good for all his opponents and stands just two matches away from surpassing his great rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

There are parallels with Federer’s run here five years ago, when he returned from knee problems with expectations low only to battle through the draw and beat Nadal in the final in one of the great grand slam stories.

Nadal only just survived a five-set examination from Denis Shapovalov in the quarter-finals but lives to fight another day.

“I am just enjoying playing tennis,” said Nadal ahead of his clash with Matteo Berrettini today. “Of course I want to keep winning, but more than because I want to achieve or I want to have more than the others, it’s because I love what I am doing.

“In terms of what can happen in the future, honestly I really don’t care that much. I don’t believe that my future happiness is going to depend on if I achieve one more grand slam than the others or if the others achieve more grand slams than me.”

Make no mistake that Nadal wants this title, but, first up is seventh-seeded Italian Berrettini, who has become a consistent performer at the slams and is looking to follow up his Wimbledon final appearance by reaching a second Sunday showdown.

The 25-year-old lost his only previous meeting with Nadal at the US Open in 2019, and said: “I watched him so many times in this tournament and other tournaments, cheering for him, and playing with him in Rod Laver in the semi-finals is something that I dreamed about when I was a kid.

“But now I really want to win this match.”