Rafael Nadal couldn’t contain his emotions after reaching his sixth Australian Open final.
The Spaniard overcame the big-serving Matteo Berrettini in four sets to reach his 29th grand slam final.
For the first time since winning Roland Garros in 2020 to take his major tally to 20, the world number five will have a chance to compete for a record 21st grand slam crown.
A tearful Nadal was delighted to reach another final, but commented on the past several months where he thought he would never play tennis again.
He battled his long standing foot injury last year and, after many trials and tribulations during the rehabilitation process, he was almost forced to hang up his racket for good.
"I went through a lot of challenging moments, a lot of days of hard work without seeing a light there," said Nadal following his 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-3 victory earlier today.
"A lot of conversations with the team, with the family, about what can happen or what's going to happen if the things continue like this, thinking that maybe it's a chance to say goodbye.
"That was not a lot of months ago. To be able to be where I am today, I really can't explain in words how important it 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.
"It's much more important to have the chance to play tennis than win the 21."
The 35-year-old entered the tournament on the back of winning the Melbourne Summer Set, which also took place at Melbourne Park.
That marked his first tournament in five months and despite the confidence-boosting win, many wondered if he would be physically and mentally ready for the challenge of a best-of-five event due to the lack of matches since Roland Garros last year.
However, participating in an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi last month convinced Nadal and his team that making it to the Australian Open might be possible, even after he contracted coronavirus.
The sixth seed's coach Carlos Moya told Spanish outlet AS: "The issue with this injury is that there is no definitive treatment. If you could operate, spend six months out and look good, but it's not like that.
"We had several conversations during the pre-season, because we saw that it was not progressing. Then he told me: 'Let's go ahead and, if I break, I break'."
Rafa’s level and confidence improved with every match over the past fortnight and he was severely tested in the quarter-finals against Denis Shapavlov, but ultimately prevailed in five sets.
Nadal played arguably his best match of the tournament against Berrettini this morning, as he used his forehand to dictate the play from the baseline.
The 2009 Australian champ was able to expose the Italian’s weakness on the backhand, dragging him into uncomfortable positions on the court.
For the majority of the match Nadal was able to neutralise the Italian’s lethal forehand, and despite losing the third set, he recovered brilliantly to close the match out in 2 hours and 55 minutes.
He will battle number two seed and last year’s finalist Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final.
"For me it's all about the Australian Open more than anything else," said Nadal.
"It's an amazing event. I've been unlucky with a few injuries. I was close a couple of times. I feel very lucky that I won it once in my career in 2009 but I never thought about another chance in 2022."
