Australian Open 2022: Rafael Nadal vs Matteo Berrettini preview, head-to-head and prediction

Match Details

Fixture: [6] Rafael Nadal vs [7] Matteo Berrettini

Date: 28 January 2022

Tournament: Australian Open

Round: Semi-finals

Venue: Melbourne Park

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Hard

Prize Money: $75,000,000

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Six, Sony Liv

Rafael Nadal vs Matteo Berrettini preview

Rafael Nadal is in his seventh Australian Open semifinal

Sixth seed Rafael Nadal will take on seventh seed Matteo Berrettini in the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Friday.

The Spaniard is unbeaten in 2022. He began his season at the Melbourne Summer Set as the top seed and won the tournament after beating Ricardas Berankis, Emil Ruusuvuori and Maxime Cressy.

Seeded sixth at the Australian Open, the Spaniard had little trouble in his first couple of rounds as he disposed of Marcos Giron and Yannick Hanfmann without dropping a set. He then beat Karen Khachanov in four sets and followed it up by defeating Adrian Mannarino in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals.

Nadal raced to a two-sets-to-love lead in his last-eight encounter with 14th seed Denis Shapovalov, but the Canadian bounced back to take the next two sets. Nadal was hampered by stomach problems but still managed to prevail 6-3 in the fifth and advance to the semifinals of the Australian Open for the seventh time in his career.

Matteo Berrettini, meanwhile, began his season at the ATP Cup, where he lost his first match to Alex de Minaur. But the Italian bounced back by beating Ugo Humbert in straight sets.

The 25-year-old then faced off against World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in a must-win tie for Italy. Berrettini fought hard but was eventually beaten by the Russian in three sets.

The Italian did not have an easy start to his Australian Open campaign; he was taken to four sets by Americans Brandon Nakashima and Stefan Kozlov in his first two rounds. Berrettini then survived a massive scare in the third round against Carlos Alcaraz, before prevailing in five sets.

The World No. 7 beat Pablo Carreno Busta in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time in his career. He then staved off a remarkable comeback from 17th seed Gael Monfils to win in five sets and advance to his third Grand Slam semifinal.

Rafael Nadal vs Matteo Berrettini head-to-head

Rafael Nadal leads the head-to-head against Matteo Berrettini 1-0. Their only previous meeting was at a Grand Slam semifinal, at the 2019 US Open. Nadal beat the Italian 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-1.

Rafael Nadal vs Matteo Berrettini prediction

The previous meeting between Nadal and Berrettini lasted three sets but this one could well go the distance. Nadal has been in top form during the competition but questions surround the Spaniard's fitness after he was plagued by stomach problems during his quarter-final win against Shapovalov.

Berrettini, meanwhile, has come through a couple of intense five-setters. The Italian's serve has been firing on all cylinders and his forehand has dealt plenty of damage. The Italian employs only one style of play -- all-out attack. He is unlikely to change his tactics against Nadal and will look to force the Spaniard out of his comfort zone with his aggressive baseline play.

For Nadal, the key will be to direct traffic to Berrettini's backhand, which is by far the Italian's weaker wing. If the Spaniard can successfully target the Italian's backhand, he will likely come out on top.

Prediction: Nadal to win in four sets.