Rafael Nadal is a win away from a record-breaking 21st grand slam title after getting past Matteo Berrettini to reach the Australian Open final on Friday.
Nadal overcame the Italian seventh seed 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-3 after two hours, 55 minutes under the Rod Laver Arena roof in their semi-final on a stormy day in Melbourne.
The Spanish star will face either Daniil Medvedev or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the decider, in which he can break the record for most grand slam titles won by a man.
Nadal had won his only previous meeting with Berrettini and he targeted the Italian's backhand from the outset, and it worked wonders.
Berrettini, however, fought hard and forced a fourth set against Nadal, who reached his sixth Australian Open final and 29th major decider, a tally only bettered by Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic (31 each).
Nadal targeted the Berrettini backhand from the start, and it helped yield a break in the second game.
Back-to-back unforced errors from that wing, the second pulled wide, from Berrettini handed Nadal a 2-0 lead.
That break proved to be enough for Nadal in a 43-minute opening set, closed out despite Berrettini briefly threatening in the ninth game.
Perhaps still recovering from the disappointment of the first set, Berrettini was broken to start the second, three unforced errors – two from a forehand side that had appeared capable of doing damage to Nadal – giving the Spaniard a break point he converted with a forehand winner.
Berrettini had no answers to Nadal's consistency and relentlessness and even his forehand was beginning to let him down as he fell 3-0 behind in the second set, a deficit he was never going to recover from.
Nadal was unable to pull away early in the third set and instead it was Berrettini, suddenly sparked to life and looking far more energetic, who struck to break for 5-3.
A running forehand pass down the line helped set up the break chance and Berrettini delivered a forehand winner before serving it out to love.
Berrettini went on a run of winning 23 consecutive points on serve, but when that was ended in the eighth game of the fourth set, he found trouble.
He saved a break point after a 23-shot rally but then netted consecutive forehands to fall 5-3 behind, Nadal closing out his victory to reach the final.
DATA SLAM: Nadal showing no signs of slowing down
Even at 35, Nadal has reached yet another grand slam final.
He became the fifth man aged 35 or older to reach a grand slam final in the Open Era, after Federer, Ken Rosewall, Mal Anderson and Andre Agassi.
The win over Berrettini also saw Nadal beat a top-10 player at the Australian Open for the first time since 2017.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Nadal – 28/19
Berrettini – 38/39
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Nadal – 5/2
Berrettini – 14/2
BREAK POINTS WON
Nadal – 4/8
Berrettini – 1/2
AC Milan 6-1 Sassuolo: Chukwueze brace powers Rossoneri into Coppa Italia last eight
AC Milan made light work of Serie B side Sassuolo as Samuel Chukwueze scored twice in a 6-1 thrashing to reach the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia on Tuesday.
The last-16 clash was already over as a contest by the 23rd minute after Chukwueze's brace, along with goals from Tijjani Reijnders and Rafael Leao handed Milan a 4-0 lead at San Siro.
Davide Calabria added their fifth 11 minutes after the interval, though Samuele Mulattieri managed a consolation three minutes later, before Tammy Abraham rounded off the win in the 61st minute.
Chukwueze opened the scoring in the 12th minute when a Reijnders ball over the top put him through one-on-one with Giacomo Satalino, and after his first effort hit the upright he tapped in the rebound.
Reijnders drilled home from outside the area five minutes later and Chukwueze netted his second in the 21st minute, curling beyond the reach of Satalino after an Abraham lay-off.
A no-look pass from Ruben Loftus-Cheek freed Leao to score two minutes later before Christian Pulisic's lofted cross bounced off the post and Calabria reacted quickest to convert in the second half.
Mulattieri's effort squirmed under Lorenzo Torriani to finally give Sassuolo something to cheer about, but Abraham finished off the rout, tucking his finish around Satalino just past the hour.
Data Debrief: Rampant Rossoneri
Milan's victory came by an impressive scoreline, though the underlying stats suggest the 6-1 win was somewhat flattering on the home side's performance.
Indeed, the home side accumulated just 1.89 expected goals (xG) from their 15 attempts, but the quality of finishing proved too much for Sassuolo to handle.
Bayern Munich 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen: Neuer off as Tella header defeats 10-man hosts
Ten-man Bayern Munich were dumped out of the DFB Pokal following a 1-0 defeat by reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen at Allianz Arena.
Nathan Tella's second-half strike proved the difference as Xabi Alonso's side booked their place in the quarter-finals.
The hosts were reduced to 10 men after just 17 minutes, when Manuel Neuer received the first red card of his career after bringing down Jeremie Frimpong just outside the box.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Vincent Kompany's side created the better chances during the first half, with Kingsley Coman, Konrad Laimer and Leon Goretzka going close.
However, the visitors broke through against the run of play in the 69th minute, when Tella nodded in from Alex Grimaldo's cross.
Michael Olise almost snatched a dramatic equaliser with a curling effort in stoppage time, but Leverkusen survived to maintain their title defence.
Data Debrief: Nine in a row for Leverkusen and Alonso
Bayern had won each of their five previous DFB Pokal matches against the defending champions.
However, that streak ended here as they have now suffered successive eliminations after home defeats (also losing to Freiburg in April 2023) for the first time in their history.
As for Leverkusen, they have now won their last nine DFB Pokal matches and kept clean sheets in their last five - both their longest such streaks in the competition since at least 2005-06.
Meanwhile, Alonso has won all nine of his DFB Pokal matches as a coach. Only two coaches have enjoyed longer undefeated starts in the competition this millennium - Louis van Gaal and Pep Guardiola (both in the first 10).
Leicester City 3-1 West Ham: Van Nistelrooy makes winning start with Foxes
Ruud van Nistelrooy made an instant impression in his first game as Leicester City manager as the Foxes battled to a 3-1 win over fellow Premier League strugglers West Ham.
Jamie Vardy fired Leicester ahead after just two minutes at the King Power Stadium, with his opener initially ruled out for offside before a VAR review led to the goal being awarded.
West Ham then dominated but could not take their chances, hitting the woodwork through Danny Ings before Tomas Soucek's foul on Mads Hermansen led to a potential second-half equaliser being disallowed.
Bilal El Khannouss, who teed up Vardy's opener, extended Leicester's advantage with a smart finish just after the hour mark, before substitute Patson Daka blasted a third in the 90th minute.
Niclas Fullkrug netted a stoppage-time consolation for West Ham, but they remain 14th in the table as the pressure continues to mount on boss Julen Lopetegui.
Leicester's first win since October, meanwhile, sees them climb to 15th, four points clear of the relegation zone after ending a five-game winless streak.
Data Debrief: Vardy starts Van Nistelrooy party
Vardy’s opener for Leicester was his 100th Premier League goal involvement at home (73 goals, 27 assists), becoming the 14th occasion of a player reaching a century at a specific venue in the competition.
Indeed, Vardy has scored the first Premier League goal under six different Leicester managers, extending his own such record for a side in the competition (Claudio Ranieri, Craig Shakespeare, Claude Puel, Brendan Rodgers, Steve Cooper, Van Nistelrooy).
That opener teed up a peculiar record as Van Nistelrooy became the first manager to win consecutive Premier League games with those coming both for and against the same side (also 3-0 against Leicester with Manchester United).
In stark contrast, West Ham had 31 shots in this match, their highest ever tally on record (since 2005-06) in a single Premier League match, yet came away with nothing after further frustration.
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