A teary-eyed Rafael Nadal felt his tennis career was “alive” again after Friday’s victory over Italian Matteo Berrettini took him to the Australian Open final and left him one win away from a men’s record 21st grand slam title.

A couple of months ago, the 35-year-old Spaniard was worried that he might never return to the court again after missing chunks of the 2021 season, including Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open, owing to a long-standing foot problem.

After overpowering the Wimbledon finalist, 25-year-old Berrettini, to reach his sixth final at Melbourne Park, Nadal could not stop the tears from rolling down as he buried his face in his shirt.

“I went through a lot of challenging moments, a lot of days of hard work without seeing a light there,” he told reporters.

“A lot of conversations with the team, with the family about what’s gonna happen if things continue like this, thinking that maybe it’s a chance to say goodbye.

“I feel alive in terms of my tennis life, in terms of my tennis career.”

Locker room chat

Shortly after Nadal ended his dreams, Berrettini sat with the Spaniard in the locker room discussing the match and their futures.

“We have always had a great relationship with Rafa since I met him... so I wanted to say good luck and obviously well done for what he has done so far,” Berrettini said.

“We also chatted a little bit in the locker room. He told me that (I had) a great run, and I told him again, ‘bravo’. It’s just really nice for me to... talk to him.”

Mixed doubles

France’s Kristina Mladenovic and Croatian Ivan Dodig swept to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over local duo Jaimee Fourlis and Jason Kubler to claim the mixed doubles crown.

It was the third grand slam mixed doubles title for Mladenovic, while Dodig now has four.