Australian Open: Rafael Nadal reaches final, says "It's completely unexpected"

New Delhi : Rafael Nadal reached the final of Australian Open after he defeated Matteo Berrettini on Friday; he reacted to this by saying that he is loving the opportunity of competing again at the highest level after he missed the second half of the 2021 season due to a foot injury.

He will now be aiming to get the record-breaking 21st Grand Slam trophy on Sunday.

"It's amazing, and I'm super happy to be able to compete for the past three weeks at the level that I am doing," Nadal said in his post-match press conference. "It's surprising for me to be able to play at the level that I am playing. Just competing and playing tennis at this high level again, facing the most important players of the world, it's unbelievable.

"For me, it's something completely unexpected, so I am super happy. I always try my best. My goal now is to win. [But] I am taking things in a little bit of a different way now. Of course, with the competitive spirit that I have, I can't go against that. It's my personal DNA. But in some ways, [just to] be able to have the chance to compete at this level, it's positive energy for me to keep going, because being very honest, for me it is much more important to have the chance to play tennis than win number 21."

Nadal is currently level with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on 20 major titles. The former World No. 1 lifted the trophy at Melbourne Park in 2009 and has also reached the final on four other occasions (2012, 2014, 2017, 2019).