Australian Open men’s singles final preview: In quest for No 21, Rafa Nadal takes on Daniil Medvedev

Rafael Nadal is chasing a record 21st Grand Slam crown in Sunday’s Australian Open final but Daniil Medvedev will once again be the man seeking to play spoiler.

The Russian world No 2 foiled Novak Djokovic in last year’s US Open final to prevent the Serbian’s calendar Grand Slam bid and scuppered his attempt to move ahead of Nadal and Roger Federer on the all-time list of men’s major winners.

Apart from the 21st major title, Nadal is on Sunday also bidding to become only the fourth man to win each of the four Grand Slams twice.

At 35 will be the third oldest man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title, behind Ken Rosewall and Federer.

The quirky Russian is evidently relishing the chance to block Nadal getting to 21 majors ahead of his “Big Three” rivals, as he did with Djokovic four months ago.

Paths to the final

Nadal:

1st rd: bt Marcos Giron (USA) 6-1, 6-4, 6-2

2nd rd: bt Yannick Hanfmann (GER) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4

3rd rd: bt Karen Khachanov (RUS x28) 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1

4th rd: bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 7-6 (16/14) 6-2, 6-2

Quarter-final: bt Denis Shapovalov (CAN x14) 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3

Semi-final: bt Matteo Berrettini (ITA x7) 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3

Medvedev:

1st rd: bt Henri Laaksonen (SUI) 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3)

2nd rd: bt Nick Krygios (AUS) 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 

3rd rd: bt Botic van de Zandschulp (NED) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2

4th rd: bt Maxime Cressy (usa) 6-2, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5

Quarter-final: bt Fleix Auger-Aliassime (CAN x9) 6-7 (4/7), 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-5, 6-4 

Semi-final: bt Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x4) 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1

Tied with Federer and Djokovic for most men’s singles Grand Slam titles (20), Nadal has been ranked in the top 10 for a record 849 consecutive weeks (2005-21), including 209 total weeks as No 1 following 160 straight weeks as No 2.

His Grand Slam match win-loss record stands at 297-41 heading into the 2022 final and Australian Open record is 75-15. He is unbeaten so far this season at 10-0 and playing in his sixth Australian Open final and 29th in Grand Slams.

Nadal is coming off a curtailed 2021 season caused by a chronic foot injury followed by a bout of Covid-19 in December.

Medvedev, meanwhile, is making his fourth Slam final appearance and second straight Australian Open final appearance.

After losing to Nadal in the 2019 US Open final and Djokovic in the 2021 Australian Open final, he denied Djokovic a calendar Grand Slam by beating him in the 2021 US Open final.

The Russian defeated Djokovic, Nadal and Dominic Thiem at the 2020 ATP Finals to become the first player to beat the top three seeds in the tournament’s history.

Medvedev led the ATP Tour with 63 wins and achieved a career-high rank of No 2 in 2021.

Fast facts

Nadal:

Age: 35

World ranking: 5

Prize money: $125,050,235

Career titles: 89

Grand Slam titles: 20 (French Open 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020); Wimbledon (2008, 2010); US Open (2010, 2013, 2017, 2019) Australian Open (2009)

Australian Open best: Winner (2009) 

Coaches: Carlos Moya, Francisco Roig, Marc Lopez

Medvedev:

Age: 25

World ranking: 2

Prize money: $22,126,356

Career titles: 13

Grand Slam titles: 1 (US Open 2021)

Australian Open best: Final (2021, 2022)

Coach: Gilles Cervara

While much of the sentimental interest is in Nadal’s remarkable comeback from last year’s injury-ravaged season to reach his sixth Australian final and 29 overall in Grand Slams, Medvedev is still standing after a turbulent tournament.

He had to negotiate the explosive Australian Nick Kyrgios and a partisan home crowd, come through two long sapping battles in the heat with Maxime Cressy and Felix Auger-Aliassime before overcoming frosty rival Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-final.

Each time the 25-year-old Russian has found a solution in his 17 and a half hours on court. He now has one more problem to solve in Nadal. One of the toughest problems to solve in the history of this sport.

Nadal leads Medvedev 3-1, with the Russian losing to the Spanish leftie in his first major final at the 2019 US Open over five sets.

Quote corner

Nadal: “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.

“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.

“One month and a half ago I didn’t know if I will be able to be back to the tour. So here I am, and thanks life for it.”

Medvedev: ““It’s a great rivalry. I’m happy to have the chance to try to stop one more time somebody from making history.

“I’m just trying to focus on doing my job. Of course, I’m not lying, I know what’s happening, I know what Rafa is going for, I knew what Novak was going for.

“I think it’s gonna be a great battle, probably a physical match. Rafa likes to drag people into long rallies. I like it too.

“Rafa, we know that from the first till the last point he’s gonna fight his best, and that’s what I’m gonna try to do also.

“I’m gonna try to prepare well, and need to show my best, because that’s what I took out of the three finals that I had before, that you have to do better than 100 percent in order to win.”

It has been an extraordinary effort from Nadal just to get to the final of another Slam. He is having to modify his game to compensate for a degenerative bone disease in his left foot that ended his 2021 season last August. But five years down the line from 2017, when he stood at the other end of the net against Roger Federer when he achieved a remarkably similar feat, can Nadal make history?

It promises to be an epic, either way.

Inputs from AFP

Match will be live from 2 pm IST, broadcast on the Sony Sports Network