Australian Open 2022: Rafael Nadal’s quest for historical past appeals amid sense of Daniil Medvedev’s rising aura

Of all of the marketing campaign speeches Daniil Medvedev may have given after advancing to the Australian Open semi-finals, “Be like Novak” was maybe an ill-advised choice. The reference to males’s world No 1 Djokovic, and the following boos, was a jarring reminder of all of the controversy and drama that dominated the build-up to the opening grand slam of the yr, and which had largely been left behind as soon as the on-court motion started.

Djokovic’s absence threatened to solid a shadow over the boys’s match however the void has been crammed by two weeks of gruelling, aggressive and largely unpredictable matches, leading to a last 4 and two semi-finals of the best, out there, order. All 4 semi-finalists – Medvedev, Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini – have survived five-set epics within the second week. There are positive to be extra to return.

Medvedev’s duel with Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday was the most recent living proof: an exhilarating battle over 4 hours and 42 minutes which noticed momentum swings and an impressive comeback from two units and match level down. The world No 2, and match favorite, was staring down the barrel of elimination when he summoned inspiration from Djokovic, in addition to, it needs to be mentioned, Roger Federer and Nadal.

The Russian’s recognition of the massive three was a reminder of the prevailing awe and sense of thrall these nice champions solid over the game, and can do for a technology to return – and but an extra chapter of their story may but be written this week.

Whereas Medvedev has the chance to bridge the hole by changing into the primary male participant because the massive three to win back-to-back grand slams, and though the potential emergence of the following dominant participant within the sport is a compelling storyline, it pales compared to Nadal and his quest for historical past which has grown tantalisingly, and unexpectedly, shut.

Nadal arrived in Australia just a few weeks in the past on the again of testing optimistic for Covid and a season ended early by a foot harm, however the Spaniard is simply six units away from eclipsing Djokovic and Federer with a twenty first grand slam title. It could be a staggering achievement within the face of time, his physique, and the hungry chasing pack.

“I actually don’t care that a lot,” Nadal mentioned this week, reflecting on the “doubts” that had shrouded his newest harm comeback and made him query whether or not it was potential to return. “I don’t imagine my future happiness goes to rely on if I obtain another grand slam than the others [Djokovic and Federer].”

Nadal mentioned it was a “miracle” to return by means of his five-set win over Denis Shapovalov, amid accusations from the 22-year-old Canadian over “unfair” remedy and “corrupt” officiating. The Spaniard’s response, alongside the strains of, ‘You’ll perceive while you’re older’, was one of many few cases the place he has proven his age and the generational hole has grow to be obvious.

In case it wanted reminding, Nadal is the outlier right here. Not simply by way of his 35 years – Medvedev and Berrettini are 25 and Tsitsipas is 23 – but additionally in physicality and expertise, outlook and perspective. Nadal’s thirty sixth grand slam semi-final look is in comparison with a mixed 14 from the opposite three, who’re additionally linked in that all of them misplaced to Djokovic in a grand slam last final season – Medvedev at Melbourne Park, Tsitsipas at Roland Garros and Berrettini at Wimbledon.

Like his semi-final opponent Nadal, Berrettini went the gap in his quarter-final as he produced a shocking final-set show to see off the problem of an impressed Gael Monfils. The Italian was defeated by Nadal of their solely earlier profession assembly, which occurred to be Berrettini’s first look in a grand slam semi-final on the US Open in 2019. He has grown in standing and stature since, nonetheless, and was verging on indomitable as he noticed off Monfils 6-2 of their decider on Rod Laver.

Tsitsipas, in the meantime, had his five-set epic for the last-16 assembly with Taylor Fritz however produced his efficiency of the match in seeing off Jannik Sinner in straight units within the quarter-finals. The Greek, who has been bothered by ache in his elbow following surgical procedure on the finish of final season, was sluggish towards Fritz and solely staved off defeat after successful the essential factors down the stretch.

It made what adopted, his sensational return to kind towards Sinner, all of the extra spectacular. It was an announcement victory from the fourth seed forward of his ninth profession assembly with Medvedev. The Russian has gained six of the earlier eight, together with within the semi-finals on the Australian Open final yr, and stays the one to beat.

The US Open champion’s victory over Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday will go down as one of many matches of the season and his performances had all of the hallmarks of these legendary Djokovic, Nadal and Federer comebacks. It was an extra reminder, too, that Medvedev has developed what the opposite contenders for the throne, together with Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev, have solely proven in spurts: a winner’s mentality, and one to be revered and feared in equal measure.

It obtained to Auger-Aliassime, and if Medvedev continues like this, that mentality and grit will start to get recognised, prefer it did with Djokovic, as an elite asset amongst a instrument of weapons. There’s a rising sense of aura surrounding Medvedev and though informing the Rod Laver crowd that he was channelling his inside Djokovic could not have been the most well-liked of admissions, it positive is a terrifying one for the remainder of the ultimate 4.