2022 AUSTRALIAN OPEN MEN’S SINGLES SEMIFINAL NOTES

2022 AUSTRALIAN OPEN MEN’S SINGLES SEMIFINAL NOTES Friday 28 January No. 2 Daniil Medvedev (RUS) v No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) Page 2 No. 6 Rafael Nadal (ESP) v No. 7 Matteo Berrettini (ITA) Page 7 A look at the semifinalists… Player Age Ranking Best Australian Open performance Best Grand Slam performance No. 2 Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 25 2 Final 2021 Won 2021 US Open No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 23 4 SF 2019, 2021, 2022 Final 2021 Roland Garros No. 6 Rafael Nadal (ESP) 35 5 Won 2009 Won 20 titles No. 7 Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 25 7 SF 2022 Final 2021 Wimbledon On court today… • In the first of today’s semifinals, Rafael Nadal will look to return to the Australian Open final for the first time since 2019 when he plays Matteo Berrettini, with the Italian bidding to reach his 2nd Grand Slam final and his first at the Australian Open. Nadal is now just 2 victories away from claiming sole ownership of the all-time record for most Grand Slam men’s singles titles – but he was forced to dig deep to overcome Denis Shapovalov in the quarterfinals, recording his first victory in a 5-set match here since defeating Grigor Dimitrov in 5 sets in the 2017 semifinals. Very much the veteran among the 4 semifinalists here, Nadal will become the 4th-oldest man in the Open Era to reach the final here if he wins today and will become just the 5th man aged 35 or older to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era. Berrettini, who also survived a 5-set quarterfinal match after resisting a fightback from Gael Monfils, will need to record his first Grand Slam victory against a Top 10 player on his 7th attempt if he is to advance this afternoon. • The 2nd semifinal is a repeat of a last 4 clash from last year, with Daniil Medvedev up against Stefanos Tsitsipas – and Medvedev will hope for a similar outcome this time round, having beaten Tsitsipas in straight sets at this stage here in 2021. Medvedev came perilously close to exiting in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, recovering from 0-2 down and saving a match point to defeat Felix Auger-Aliassime in 5 sets. He will become just the 5th active male player to reach multiple Australian Open finals if he wins again today – after Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Nadal and Andy Murray. Tsitsipas, meanwhile, enjoyed a comfortable victory over Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals and will hope that triumph can propel him to his first win in an Australian Open semifinal. He has lost in straight sets on both of his previous appearances in the last 4 here. • The Australian Open men’s singles semifinals are being played on the same day for the first time since 1999. Between 2000 and 2021, the men’s semifinals were split across 2 days, with the first semifinal being played on Thursday evening and the 2nd semifinal taking place on Friday evening