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The Spaniard says he talked with his team about the possibility of his career ending. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday January 28, 2022

During a dark period last year, when Rafael Nadal’s left foot was not improving at the desired rate, the Spaniard sat down with his team and had some deep discussions. One of the things that was discussed? Maybe it’s time to say good-bye to tennis.

“I went through a lot of challenging moments, a lot of days of hard work without seeing a light there,” Nadal said on Friday after taking out Matteo Berrettini in four sets to reach his 29th Grand Slam final. “But still working and still receiving plenty of support from my team and from my family, too, without a doubt.

“Yeah, I mean, a lot of conversations with the team, with the family about what can happen or what gonna happen if the things continue like this, thinking that maybe is a chance to say good-bye.”

What it means to be back in an #AusOpen final 💙@RafaelNadal • #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/OF29zQkF9i

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2022

That explains the heavy emotions that Nadal was feeling on Friday night after his triumph, which also represented his 500th hard court win and his 75th Australian Open victory. He was tearing up as he celebrated his victory and prepared for his post-match on-court interview, something that we don’t typically see from Nadal until after a tournament is over.

Nadal said the emotions are still raw, his struggles with the injury were not long ago.

“That was not a lot of months ago,” he said. “To be able to be where I am today, I don't know, I really can't explain in words how important is for me in terms of energy, in terms of personal satisfaction, in terms of being very thankful for all the support that I received from the fans and especially from the people really close to me.”

“For a long time I wasn't able to practice,” he said. “Sometimes I went on court and I was able to practice 20 minutes, sometimes 45, sometimes zero, sometimes two hours, but have been very, very rough in terms of imagine myself playing at the best-of-five at this moment.”

Nadal will bid for a record 21st major title on Sunday in Melbourne against either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Daniil Medvedev. Standing at the precipice of a historic achievement, the Spaniard says that, for him at least, it’s not about standing alone ahead of his Big Three rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic – it’s more about living the dream and still playing competitive tennis at 35.

“For me, I just feel happy to be part of this amazing era of tennis, sharing all these things with another two players,” Nadal said. “That's it. In some ways it doesn't matter if somebody achieve one more or one less, no? I think we did, everyone, we did amazing things and things that will be very difficult to equal each of us. So, yeah, I don't think much about this, all this stuff.”

There are a lot of positives for Matteo Berrettini to take with him from Melbourne, but the negatives are currently weighing him down. By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday January 27, 2022

After falling to Rafael Nadal in four sets in the Australian Open semifinals, No.7-seeded Matteo Berrettini was still trying to make sense of an up and down performance against the legendary Spaniard.

Happy to have reached his third major semifinal, Berrettini said he was disappointed by the way he handled Friday’s battle with the 20-time major champion. He drops to 0-7 against the Top-10 at the majors with the loss.

“The result wasn't bad,” Berrettini said. “It was good. First semis here, especially after last year. But obviously I'm disappointed for today's match. I expected from myself a little bit more, but it is what it is. I have to learn, if it's possible to learn, something from today, from the tournament. It was a tough one for so many reasons. Especially physically I have been struggling, but it was a good start of the year, I would say.”

It was a tale of two matches for Berrettini, and he later lamented the effort he put forth in the opening two sets, which were clearly dominated by Nadal.

Grazie, @MattBerrettini ❤️

Congratulations on an incredible fortnight 👏 #AusOpen · #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/n6atQdANfl

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2022

“I don't have anything to say about my tennis in the third and the fourth,” the Italian said. “I think it was a really good fight. I was playing good tennis and he was playing good tennis, and it was I think also fun to watch. I was having fun playing it.”

Berrettini, who has been knocked out by either Novak Djokovic (Roland-Garros '21 QF, Wimbledon '21 F, US Open QF) or Nadal in each of the last our Slams, was clearly disappointed with his effort in the first two sets, but he didn’t go into detail about the reasons for what he characterized as “being in the wrong mood.”

“The first two sets weren't what I expected, what I wanted from myself,” he said. I was, I wouldn't say flat, but I wasn't in the right mood, in the right mental mindset and for so many reasons. I think for the first set time I'm in the semifinals, against Rafa, so many – there can be so many reasons. But the fact is that I was just like that, and it was good that I had a really big and good reaction. This is the thing that I'm most proud and happy about.

“But you cannot be in the court I think like this for the first two sets against a player like Rafa. Even if I was like I was in the third and the fourth, I still don't know if I could have won the match, but for sure the attitude in the first two, it wasn't good enough. I think that the score proved it.”