Matteo Berrettini vs Rafael Nadal Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Australian Open

Prediction published on 27/01/2022, 03:14  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 27/01/2022 at 09:37 in Tennis Predictions

Rafa Nadal bids to reach his sixth Australian Open final. The sixth seed takes on Matteo Berrettini (seeded seventh) who is yet to reach a Grand Slam final. Nadal has only once lost an Australian Open semi-final and that was in 2008, a year before he won his only title in Melbourne. He last got to the final of this tournament in 2019 and if winning on Sunday, it'll be a record 21st Grand Slam title win. The 35-year-old missed the last few months of 2021 but won a tournament in Melbourne on his comeback earlier this month. Nadal has dropped three sets on his way to this semi-final. One was against Karen Khachanov, then two in his quarter final against Denis Shapovalov, despite winning the first two. He's only had one previous match against Berrettini, beating the Italian in straight sets at the 2019 US Open.

Matteo Berrettini can go ahead of Nadal in the rankings if winning this match. He began this tournament ranked seventh but is up to sixth before this match. This is his third Grand Slam semi-final but the first in Australia. It's the fourth sucessive Grand Slam in which he has reached at least the quarter finals. His only final so far has been the 2021 Wimbledon final. He's become so consistent in Grand Slam events and in the last three he's played, only Novak Djokovic has beaten him. Of his five matches in this tournament, only against Pablo Carreno Busta, has he won in straight sets. Against both Carlos Alvarez and in the last eight, Gael Monfils, Berrettini has had to go to a final set. Another tight match looks likely here, go for over 39.5 games to be played.