Rafael Nadal will aim to win a record 21st Grand Slam title when he meets Russian second seed Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final on Sunday.

The Spaniard, 35, is level on 20 major titles with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who both missed the Slam.

US Open champion Medvedev, 25, is bidding to become the first man in the Open era to win his first two majors at successive Grand Slams.

The men's singles final at Melbourne Park takes place from 08:30 GMT.

Unsure if he'd be able to continue playing at the top level as he struggled with a foot injury last year, sixth seed Nadal has been savouring every moment of his Australian Open run.

Victory on Sunday would deliver his second Australian Open title - and first since 2009. It would also make him only the fourth men's player in history to win two or more titles at all four Grand Slam tournaments.

But it is a 21st Grand Slam title overall, to move the 35-year-old ahead of long-time rivals Djokovic and Federer, which holds the most significance.

The fourth-oldest man in the Open era to reach the Australian Open final, Nadal followed up an epic five-set win over Denis Shapovalov with victory in four sets against Italian seventh seed Matteo Berrettini to set up his meeting with Medvedev.

"I went through a lot of challenging moments, a lot of days of hard work without seeing a light there, but still working and still receiving plenty of support from my team and from my family," said Nadal.

"[There were] a lot of conversations with the team, with the family about what's going to happen if things continue like this, thinking that maybe it is a chance to say goodbye.

"That was not a lot of months ago. To be able to be where I am today, I don't know, I really can't explain in words how important it is for me."

Source: BBC 

BDST: 1323 HRS, JAN 30, 2022
SMS