Berliner Boersenzeitung - Nadal closes in on quest for greatness, Medvedev running on empty

EUR -
AED 3.938479
AFN 72.914507
ALL 98.273644
AMD 415.153644
ANG 1.933522
AOA 978.447316
ARS 1065.013219
AUD 1.629363
AWG 1.930079
AZN 1.82711
BAM 1.945759
BBD 2.166121
BDT 128.197217
BGN 1.956345
BHD 0.404163
BIF 3109.572424
BMD 1.072266
BND 1.417982
BOB 7.429589
BRL 6.152562
BSD 1.072863
BTN 90.51205
BWP 14.228571
BYN 3.510881
BYR 21016.42052
BZD 2.1624
CAD 1.492359
CDF 3073.115756
CHF 0.939053
CLF 0.037708
CLP 1040.484803
CNY 7.698019
CNH 7.63378
COP 4674.952627
CRC 548.767972
CUC 1.072266
CUP 28.415058
CVE 109.911477
CZK 25.259812
DJF 190.563598
DKK 7.4598
DOP 64.845351
DZD 143.032869
EGP 52.835878
ERN 16.083995
ETB 130.284515
FJD 2.42359
FKP 0.820465
GBP 0.829992
GEL 2.916983
GGP 0.820465
GHS 17.601295
GIP 0.820465
GMD 76.671173
GNF 9253.659008
GTQ 8.293201
GYD 224.451672
HKD 8.336389
HNL 26.871411
HRK 7.386875
HTG 141.171456
HUF 407.198552
IDR 16786.168917
ILS 4.020796
IMP 0.820465
INR 90.481213
IQD 1404.668922
IRR 45134.375558
ISK 148.766647
JEP 0.820465
JMD 170.20843
JOD 0.760348
JPY 163.67614
KES 138.322736
KGS 92.433433
KHR 4364.124433
KMF 493.644665
KPW 965.039476
KRW 1499.246878
KWD 0.328832
KYD 0.893986
KZT 528.119607
LAK 23514.801496
LBP 96844.630524
LKR 313.867297
LRD 203.091292
LSL 18.904465
LTL 3.166124
LVL 0.648604
LYD 5.2009
MAD 10.611688
MDL 19.240704
MGA 4975.31625
MKD 61.451172
MMK 3482.679288
MNT 3643.561097
MOP 8.590169
MRU 42.816002
MUR 49.75717
MVR 16.566921
MWK 1861.454759
MXN 21.634157
MYR 4.699212
MZN 68.521819
NAD 18.90446
NGN 1788.626462
NIO 39.432637
NOK 11.79472
NPR 144.820624
NZD 1.813437
OMR 0.412628
PAB 1.072853
PEN 4.042846
PGK 4.304882
PHP 62.679371
PKR 298.144061
PLN 4.325898
PYG 8388.708377
QAR 3.903854
RON 4.977572
RSD 116.980874
RUB 104.59914
RWF 1460.962906
SAR 4.0275
SBD 8.943509
SCR 14.541819
SDG 644.972153
SEK 11.594742
SGD 1.421508
SHP 0.820465
SLE 24.501684
SLL 22484.885861
SOS 612.26445
SRD 37.497551
STD 22193.748611
SVC 9.387467
SYP 2694.101668
SZL 18.904452
THB 36.687634
TJS 11.404047
TMT 3.763655
TND 3.344939
TOP 2.511359
TRY 36.856587
TTD 7.290377
TWD 34.580984
TZS 2862.951522
UAH 44.288713
UGX 3926.73529
USD 1.072266
UYU 44.817872
UZS 13757.177668
VEF 3884341.194834
VES 47.874003
VND 27101.532073
VUV 127.301648
WST 3.003615
XAF 652.589182
XAG 0.031788
XAU 0.000394
XCD 2.897854
XDR 0.804349
XOF 651.938299
XPF 119.331742
YER 267.878982
ZAR 19.172477
ZMK 9651.687743
ZMW 29.206999
ZWL 345.269328
  • RBGPF

    0.0100

    61.4

    +0.02%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0700

    7.14

    -0.98%

  • NGG

    -0.3600

    63.94

    -0.56%

  • GSK

    -0.3700

    36.29

    -1.02%

  • CMSC

    0.1600

    24.84

    +0.64%

  • VOD

    -0.0100

    9.31

    -0.11%

  • RELX

    0.3200

    47.98

    +0.67%

  • BTI

    -0.0100

    35.39

    -0.03%

  • RIO

    -3.0400

    64.43

    -4.72%

  • AZN

    -0.2000

    64.49

    -0.31%

  • BP

    -0.8800

    28.93

    -3.04%

  • JRI

    0.1600

    13.53

    +1.18%

  • SCS

    0.0600

    13.14

    +0.46%

  • BCC

    1.4700

    142.32

    +1.03%

  • BCE

    0.3000

    28.37

    +1.06%

  • CMSD

    0.2350

    25.125

    +0.94%

Nadal closes in on quest for greatness, Medvedev running on empty
Nadal closes in on quest for greatness, Medvedev running on empty

Nadal closes in on quest for greatness, Medvedev running on empty

Rafael Nadal is two matches away from getting the jump on golden era rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer to become all-time Grand Slam leader as the Australian Open gets down to the last four on Friday.

Text size:

The 35-year-old Spanish gladiator has Italian power server Matteo Berrettini to overcome to get through to Sunday's final against second seed Daniil Medvedev or number four Stefanos Tsitsipas in his quest for a 21st major title.

Nadal, seeded sixth and the 2009 winner, had modest expectations resuming after a three-and-a-half-month lay-off with a chronic foot injury at the end of last season.

But a combination of nine-time winner Djokovic's dramatic deportation on the eve of the tournament over vaccination issues and world number three Alexander Zverev's shock fourth round exit has cleared Nadal's path to the top-half semi-final.

Nadal has been modifying his game to compensate for a degenerative bone disease in his left foot that threatens to end his remarkable career and faces another physical test against last year's Wimbledon finalist Berrettini.

"Today there are still doubts because the foot, it is an injury we cannot fix... so we need to find a way that the pain is under control to keep playing," Nadal said.

"The last six months have been a lot of doubts if I would be able to keep going.

"But now I feel good. We are in a position that we won a (lead-up) tournament, we are in semi-finals of the Australian Open, so that's amazing for me."

- 'I never had this' -

Seventh seed Berrettini, 25, the first Italian man to play in the Australian Open semi-finals, is in awe of facing up to Nadal, but believes he can cause an upset.

"Playing with him on Rod Laver Arena in the semi-finals is something that I dreamed about when I was a kid," he said.

"Now I really want to win this match. I know I can do it. It's gonna be a really tough one. I'm in the semis in a Slam for the third time so it means that this is my level and I want to get further."

The two-metre tall (6ft 7in) Berrettini, who possesses a topspin forehand nearly as heavy as Nadal's, lost their only meeting in a semi-final at the 2019 US Open in straight sets.

Medvedev, the tournament favourite, needs to recuperate before facing Tsitsipas after two long, torrid examinations just to get to the semi-finals.

He is hoping there is enough petrol left in the tank to go on and win his second major title after last year's success over Djokovic at the US Open.

Medvedev was kept on court for 3hr 30min before dousing American serve-volleyer Maxime Cressy over four sets.

Then was taken to the brink by Canada's ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in a five-set quarter-final that ebbed for 4hr 42min before finishing past midnight Wednesday.

"I never had this experience. I played some long matches but never like four hours and never won it to be able to play in two days," he said.

"I'm going to try to recover as well as possible, to be ready to play against Stefanos, because he's a great player. I need to be at my best to beat him."

Medvedev leads Tsitsipas 6-2 in their eight meetings (2-1 in Slams) and will have to contend with the Greek favourite in Melbourne who said he was "in the zone" after producing his best match of the tournament to demolish Italian 11th seed Jannik Sinner in the quarters.

"It was the most consistent and the best match I've had in the tournament," Tsitsipas said.

"I feel like I'm in the zone. I have no plans of getting out of it. It's part of my game."

(H.Schneide--BBZ)