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Patna : Sixth seed Rafael Nadal, 35, Spain, and 2009 champion defeated 7th seed & 2021 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, 25, Italy, in four-sets in semi-final on January 28, 2022, to reach Australian Open (AO) final for the sixth time. The Spaniard is now just one win away from securing his 21st Grand Slam singles title. Nadal now leads Berrettini 2-0 on ATP tour. He had defeated Berrettini in US Open semi-final in 2019.
World No 5 Rafael Nadal beat World No 7 Berrettini 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in semi-final on Rod laver Arena, Melbourne Park, Australia,. The Spaniard won 4 break points during the match to 1 by the Italian. Both the players committed 2 double faults each in the match. Nadal won 5 games in a row in the match including 4 in second set to 3 by the Italian. Like his quarter-final match against Denis Shapovalov, Canada, Nadal again won the first two sets but Berrettini fought back and won the third set. But, a resurgent Nadal then easily won the 4th set.. Berrettini has won 5 career titles.
Berrettini, however, hammered 14 Aces during the match to only 5 by Nadal. The Spaniard won 37 receiving points to 31 by Berrettini. Nadal, in all, won 108 points during the match to 96 points by the Italian. Berrettini’s winning percentage on his first serve ( 74%) to Nadal’s 73 %. But, Nadal’s winning percentage on his second serve ( 67%) was much better than of Berrettini’s ( 47%).