Spain’s Rafael Nadal serves against Italy’s Matteo Berrettini during their men’s singles semi-final match on day twelve of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 28, 2022. (AFP/Paul Crock)
R
afael Nadal will be looking to move ahead of his great "Big Three" rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic by winning a record 21st Grand Slam crown in Sunday's Australian Open final — but Daniil Medvedev is ready to crash the party.
The Russian upset Novak Djokovic in last year's US Open final to prevent the Serbian's calendar Grand Slam bid and his quest to become the first of the golden era rivals to break away from the three-way tie on 20 Grand Slam titles.
Nadal will also become only the fourth man to win each of the four Grand Slams twice should he succeed against the world number two on Rod Laver Arena.
At 35, he will be the third oldest man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title, behind Ken Rosewall and Federer.
"For me at the end it's about more than all these statistics, it's about being in the final of the Australian Open one more time. That means a lot to me," Nadal said.
"To me it's more important to be in the final and fight to win another Australian Open than the rest of the statistics for the history of the sport.
"I am facing my most difficult rival of the whole tournament in the final."
