Nadal eyes historic 21st Grand Slam, rival Medvedev can be spoiler again

The Russian World No.2 upset Novak Djokovic in last year’s US Open final to prevent the Serbian’s calendar Grand Slam bid and scuppered the latter’s attempt to move ahead of Nadal and Roger Federer on the all-time list of men’s major winners.

Apart from the 21st major title, Spanish sixth seed Nadal will bid to become only the fourth man to win each of the four Grand Slams twice. “For me at the end, it is about more than all these statistics. It is about being in the final of the Australian Open one more time. That means a lot to me,” Nadal said.

“To me, it is more important to be in the final and fight to win another Australian Open than the rest of the statistics for the history of the sport. I am facing my most difficult rival of the whole tournament in the final,” added Nadal.

Medvedev is relishing the chance to block Nadal getting to 21 majors ahead of the “Big Three” rivals, as he did with Djokovic four months ago. “It is a great rivalry. I am happy to have the chance to try to stop somebody one more time from making history,” Medvedev said after reaching his second straight Australian Open final.

He had lost to Djokovic last year. “I am trying to focus on my job. Of course, I am not lying, I know what is happening, I know what Rafa is going for, I knew what Novak was going for [at the US Open].”