“I Feel Liberated”- Rafael Nadal on His Winning Streak of Matches in 2022

34-years old Rafael Nadal is feeling younger again. The 2022 Australian Open winner reached the Mexican Open final by defeating Daniil Medvedev in straight sets. Newfound energy kept him going as he explained the secret of his recent run of form.

Nadal’s win over Medvedev was his 14th win of the season and remains, undefeated so far in 2022. He said, “I’m able to play without limitations, something I couldn’t do for the last year and a half. In many moments I played with a lot of pain and problems”

After making the strongest possible comeback from a leg injury, Nadal seems to be playing fearlessly. Current world no. 4 won record 21st Grand Slam, bettered is an unbeaten record to 14-0 in the start of the season.

He also equaled Roger Federer‘s record with the 21st ATP500 finals appearance. The records are coming swiftly to El Nino’s way, and he is conquering them with ease. He expressed his free-flowing game as, “Right now I feel liberated. It’s incredible energy and I’m enjoying it.”

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Rafael Nadal diminishes new world no. 1

Daniil Medvedev recently dethroned Novak Djokovic from the top spot and became the world no 1 without stroking a ball against the Serb. But his celebration remained short-lived. He was playing just his 2nd match as World no. 1 but could not topple the Spaniard.

Nadal started the game with a huge upper hand in 1st set. He didn’t even face any break-point against the Chess Master and won the opening set 6-3 very convincingly. 

In the second set, Rafa made his intentions clear, breaking the very 1st serve of the second set. Medvedev did provide some resistance late in 2nd set but couldn’t convert 7 breaking opportunities. In the 9th and eventually a final game of the match, Medvedev had a 40-0 lead, but errors including, double fault allowed Nadal to enjoy bit early celebrations.

It was the second meeting between the two in 25 days, and Nadal managed to go 2-0 against him this season. Also, Rafael Nadal outlined his dominance over the Russian with a 5-1 overall record. Medvedev did manage to win in 2020 UK Nitto ATP Finals against Rafa.

Nadal will face 6th seed Cameron Norrie in the finals. The Brit is also on 8-0 run this season, but have never defeated Nadal in the previous 3 meetings.

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